'There's really no evidence': Ohio schools could arm teachers soon

Jun. 19—LIMA — The way law enforcement agencies respond to school shootings could change if schools start arming teachers, administrators and office staff, a possibility after passage of House Bill 99 made it easier for school boards to arm their employees.

The new law, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine last Monday, gives school boards the authority to arm employees who have undergone at least 24 hours of firearms training, although districts may enact stricter policies or forgo the option entirely.

Previously, only employees — typically resource officers — who had completed 700 hours of training could carry firearms with the approval of their school board.

"This is obviously going to change the way we respond to active shooter situations if we know there's armed teachers in the school," Allen County Sheriff Matthew Treglia said. "And more than likely my guys aren't going to know who the teacher is."

Lessons from the past

The question once consumed Elida schools, which considered arming highly trained employees in 2015. But the district abandoned the idea, opting to hire resource officers instead.

"What does the teacher do if they're in the classroom and the event is happening outside?" asked Patrick Schymanski, a former Elida schools board member who was present for the talks. "Does the teacher leave? ... And if he doesn't leave, then what good is having a gun?"

Schymanski raised other concerns: Does a teacher who unintentionally shoots a student qualify for immunity? What should a teacher do if they are outgunned by a shooter? Should schools really ask teachers to die for their students too?

"Teachers and students care so much about each other," Schymanski said. "Would a teacher really be able to handle living with a mistake that resulted in serious injury or death?"

Security reviews underway

The law won't officially take effect until September, but school boards are reviewing their security plans in the aftermath of the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Tex., in which 19 children and two teachers were killed by a gunman in an elementary school.

Discussions about arming staff are likely to occur too, although some districts like Lima schools have already ruled out the idea. Other superintendents who talked to The Lima News said they have yet to discuss the subject with their school boards, which will ultimately decide whether arming staff is appropriate.

But Treglia said his officers are training more often, not less, to improve proficiency.

"We preach all the time: Every bullet leaves the end of that barrel is your responsibility," Treglia said. "If you're going to shoot your weapon, you are accounting for that bullet until it stops, and where it stops and who it hits is on you."

He added: "If they do choose to arm teachers, I would like to be a major part of the planning process."

'You need to be transparent'

Wapakoneta schools Superintendent Aaron Rex hasn't ruled out the idea of arming his staff, even though the district is in talks with the city of Wapakoneta and village of Cridersville about hiring additional resource officers.

But Rex isn't in favor of arming teachers, who need to focus on evacuating students or locking down their classrooms in an emergency.

"I don't want them worrying about whether or not they have a gun and what they're going to do," Rex said. "To me, the people that you're arming would be people who are moving around the building."

Rex expects the question to be raised at future board meetings, although he has not discussed the idea of arming teachers since House Bill 99 was signed last week.

"I don't think it's something you can jump into," he said. "You need to be transparent about it and talk with people about what's best for your particular district; what's best for your particular school."

'There really is no evidence'

House Bill 99 drew many opponents, among them the Fraternal Order of Police, the Cincinnati NAACP, teachers' unions, anti-violence and student groups.

DeWine himself previously supported stricter training requirements for teachers to carry guns on school property when similar legislation was considered in 2014. In a letter to superintendents last week, DeWine said he "did not want to deny schools this option."

"There really is no evidence that this would be effective," said Amity Noltemeyer, a professor of school psychology at Miami University, who has reviewed school safety literature on the subject.

Instead, introducing guns to schools could create new risks like the possibility of accidental discharges or an unauthorized person gaining access to the weapon, Noltemeyer said.

A high cognitive load, or mental distractions, can negatively affect a person's firearms skills too, Noltemeyer said, noting that teachers have a lot of demands on their attention that could limit their precision.

Fear, mistrust

Intense security procedures can also increase student fear and mistrust, Noltemeyer said.

That's particularly true for historically marginalized students, who are already under more surveillance in the community and who may feel disconnected from their teachers in such an environment, said Brian Schultz, chair and professor of teacher education for Miami University.

"When you create a situation where there's an even bigger disequilibrium between students and teachers, or teachers and family members," Schultz said, "you create an even bigger disconnect, and those relationships are that much harder to develop."