Edgewood Schools passes concealed carry policy

Edgewood City Schools has become the first Southwest Ohio school district, and at least the second in the state, to pass a concealed carry law, allowing administrators to carry firearms in school buildings and on school grounds.

School board members voted, 4-0, Monday to approve the policy that will allow on a voluntary basis principals, assistant principals, deans of students and certain central office personnel to carry loaded firearms in the district’s five school buildings. Teachers are not eligible under the new policy because that would require negotiation with the union on a separate contract, Superintendent Doug Lantz said.

And while armed principals could soon be walking Edgewood’s hallways, Lantz said that likely won’t be the case when classes start this fall. To be eligible to carry a handgun, district administrators must first pass a specific set of training classes, even if he or she already has a concealed carry license.

No current administrators in the district would be eligible yet under those terms, Lantz said.

“As far as the coming school year, nobody’s in any type of training program and no one is deputized, so quite frankly it’s kind of a moot point, as far as concealed carry,” he said.

Arming teachers as a way to improve student safety became a topic of debate in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings in December in Newtown, Conn. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones made headlines when he pushed for armed personnel in schools, and threatened to pull his support from local school levy campaigns if no districts put that proposal in action.

Jones applauded Edgewood’s new policy and said he expects more districts to follow suit.

“I support it 100 percent. They should have done it a long time ago. I wonder what took them so long,” said Jones, who increased sheriff deputy patrols around county schools last year. “They’re the first one in this region to do it. But what I’m hearing is there’s more coming.”

Board member Jim Miller said that numerous school shooting incidents, including the one at Sandy Hook tragedy, prompted the board to take action.

“After a number of incidents with schools and kids being the target of violence, we thought an extra precaution should be taken to protect our kids,” Miller said.

Miller, who is also the board’s liaison to Butler Tech, said other districts took interest in Edgewood’s policy, particularly Lakota Local Schools.

Miller would not say which school employees might be taking the training because “one of the benefits to having (the policy) is for people to not know who has had it. I think that, in itself, is a deterrent. But I will tell you that we have had interest from a number of administrators.”

Officials across Ohio’s 614 school districts have been focused on boosting school security over the past six months. But not until earlier this month, when Newcomerstown Schools in Tuscarawas County approved a similar policy, had a school district gone so far as to adopt a concealed carry policy.

According to Edgewood’s policy, the administrator who wants the training must first be authorized by the school board. They then must obtain a concealed carry license from the state. If they already have that license, they must also have basic peace officer certification from the Ohio Officer Training Academy, or 20 years of experience as a law enforcement officer.

The cost for the training must be paid for by the administrator with his or her own funds, Lantz said.

Those administrators approved to carry a firearm must notify the board immediately if their concealed carry license is suspended, revoked or surrendered. Proof of renewal must be submitted to the board, according to the policy.

If an administrator is approved to carry a firearm, they are not allowed to have said firearm at school events hosted by other districts unless the other district’s board grants written permission. Administrators possessing a valid concealed carry license are permitted to maintain a firearm within their vehicle on school premises.

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