DeWine creates Ohio School Safety Center

SANDUSKY— There was a time when teachers and school administrators only worried about academics — reading, writing and arithmetic.Today, post-Columbine and Parkland, Fla. shootings, the priorities go deeper.Gov. Mike DeWine recently issued an executive order creating a specialized division of Ohio Homeland Security devoted to the safety of Ohio's students and schools. Called the Ohio School Safety Center, the office will assist local schools and law enforcement in preventing, preparing for, and responding to threats and acts of violence, including self-harm, through a holistic, solutions-based approach to improving school safety."Having one office where the staff solely focuses on keeping our students safe and our schools secure, will allow analysts to nimbly assess threats, proactively address potential issues and expertly train and support school faculty in a more streamlined manner," DeWine said. The school safety center will be headquartered at the OHS offices within the Ohio Department of Public Safety in Columbus and will continue current work of OHS staff to annually review about 5,500 school emergency management plans and offer free risk and threat assessments to schools throughout the state.School safety center staff will also:• Promote and expand use of the SaferOH Tip Line through training and increased visibility to encourage more anonymous reports of school safety concerns and threats of violence. The SaferOH Tip Line, which accepts calls or texts to 844-SAFEROH (844-723-3764), is available free of charge to every school district, public school, and private school in Ohio. This centralized tip line is critical to ensuring information sharing, prevention and intervention, yet it is severely underutilized. OSSC staff would educate school staff, students, and community members on how to use the tip line, what to report and how confidentially is maintained. All tips are forwarded to local school officials and law enforcement.• Proactively scan social media and websites for threats to schools through use of enhanced technology to identify threat language. Through the OSSC, intelligence analysts would conduct more thorough monitoring of online platforms for threats of impending school violence. When a threat is identified, analysts would immediately conduct a threat analysis and share the information with local law enforcement and school officials. Analysts would not monitor specific individuals.• Review emergency management plans and implement threat assessment team training. OSSC staff members will review and assess emergency management plans and, at the request of schools, provide technical assistance to help schools strengthen their safety strategies. In addition, the OSSC staff will provide a model policy, a free training program, and guidance for schools that have a threat assessment team.• Consolidate school safety resources in a centralized location to saferschools.ohio.gov with resources on school safety from various state agencies including the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Department of Higher Education, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio Department of Health, and Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office. • Host an annual school safety summit where school safety, public safety, and mental health professionals can share best practices, training and resources with schools and community leaders from across the state. The conference, hosted by the OSSC, would focus on physical security, mental health, school climate, critical incident response, and treat assessment.The executive order also includes the creation of the Ohio School Safety Working Group, which will have experts in the fields of public safety, education, mental health, emergency management, and others. When they meet quarterly, the group will discuss current issues and trends regarding school safety and local needs and would assist with the development of a yearly report on the state of school safety in Ohio.School officials reactAdministrators from Huron and Sandusky schools commended the governor's initiative. "Student and staff safety remains a top priority for Huron, and a partnership with the Ohio School Safety Center will only enhance our abilities," Huron superintendent Dennis Muratori said. "Recent upgrades to our surveillance capabilities, supported by grant dollars, along with resources available through the OSSC allows our district to take a proactive and preventative approach to safety and security. Huron utilizes the SaferOH tip line and encourages those hesitant to report threats of violence to do so by accessing this resource.""We are always looking at ways to be proactive in dealing with the response to threats and finding a holistic, solutions-based approached to school safety," Stephen Sturgill, Sandusky Schools chief of staff and transformation officer. "Sandusky City Schools has been at the forefront of providing increased wraparound services to our students and we look forward to continuing to work on these matters."Reach reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com, follow her on Twitter @CaitlinNearhood and on Facebook.com/CaitliNearhoodOhio Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order to create the Ohio School Safety Center to assist school districts prepare and respond to threats and acts of violence. Huron Schools superintendent Dennis Muratori talks during a "Between the Lines" program in May 2018. Sandusky City Schools superintendent Eugene Sanders and chief of staff and transformation officer Stephen Sturgill talk about the 2030 Initiative during "Between the Lines" on Monday, June 10, 2019.