COLUMBUS, Ohio — School safety was the topic of many discussions at the Statehouse on Tuesday, just days after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde.
What You Need To Know
- School safety was the topic of many discussions at the Statehouse, just days after a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde
- House Bill 99 would allow school personnel to be armed in classrooms and would require a minimum of 25 hours of training
- House Bill 616 would prohibit both public and nonpublic schools from teaching “racist” or “divisive” topics, such as Critical Race Theory and diversity equity and inclusion lessons
Two bills drew the attention of the education community — House Bill 99 and House Bill 616.
House Bill 99 it was first introduced by Republican Rep. Thomas Hall in Feb. 2021. It had its second hearing Tuesday in the Ohio Veterans and Public Safety Committee.
If passed, the bill would allow school personnel to be armed in classrooms and it would require a minimum of 25 hours of training for those who want to carry.
Hall said he wanted to leave the training requirements up to schools.
“We did not set a maximum,” said Hall. “I feel as though that decision should be left up to the local school board. There are so many schools in the State of Ohio with different geographical regions. There are different circumstances. Some have school resource officers, some don’t, some have fast response times, some don’t.”
President of the Ohio Education Association Scott DiMauro showed up to testify as an opponent.
“Introducing more guns into our schools isn’t the way to do that,” said DiMauro. “We’ve already seen what we really need is an investment in our school to make sure our schools really are safe.”
DiMauro said he believes investing in mental health resources is a possible solution.
Another bill getting a lot of attention had its first hearing in the Ohio State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday.
Republican Reps. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, and Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, introduced House Bill 616, which would prohibit both public and nonpublic schools from teaching “racist” or “divisive” topics, such as Critical Race Theory and diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) lessons.
The bill received many questions from committee members like Rep. Latyna M. Humphrey, D-Columbus.
“Couldn’t this be seen as government overreach?” asked Humphrey.
As of Tuesday, there is no movement on HB 616. Hall said he’s hoping HB 99 will pass through the Senate on Wednesday.