CLEVELAND — Since Columbine in 1999, there have been more than 400 school shootings in the United States.

What You Need To Know

  • In 2022, Ohio lawmakers passed legislation to lower the threshold of training required to arm school staff members from 700 hours to just 24 hours

  • Parma is one of 60 districts across the state making use of the new law

  • Parma schools have three armed student resource officers as well as three armed security team members, who are required to undergo continual mental health checks and training with the Parma Police Department
  • “It's very clear who's carrying,” Smialek said. “They're in bulletproof vests, and it's really well-designated. It's not a secret. And we just think it's one more tool in the toolbox of keeping kids safe.”

Data shows 46 of those shootings took place in 2022, more than any year since Columbine.

In 2022, Ohio lawmakers passed legislation to lower the threshold of training required to arm school staff members from 700 hours to just 24 hours. 

“It’s become part of our culture,” Dr. Charles Smialek, superintendent at Parma City School District, said. “Mass shootings, I mean. I don’t have all the statistics, but it’s too frequent. And it’s something that we have to have in our minds as we prepare for school years.”

Recent data from the K-12 School Shooting Database ranked Ohio in the top five states for most school shooting incidents in the past decade.

Parma is one of 60 districts across the state making use of the new law that allows trained staff members to be armed on school grounds.

“We took that measure last summer, so that would have been summer of ’23. We have had no incidents,” Smialek said.

Parma schools have three armed student resource officers as well as three armed security team members. On top of state requirements, the Parma school district requires armed staff to undergo continual mental health checks and training with the Parma Police Department. 

“It’s very clear who’s carrying,” Smialek said. “They’re in bulletproof vests, and it’s really well-designated. It’s not a secret. And we just think it’s one more tool in the toolbox of keeping kids safe.”

Thanks to a state grant, the district was recently able to install vestibules that require people to buzz in to school buildings. Smialek said they also used about $50,000 from the district’s safety fund to install powerful night locks on classroom doors and are currently working to add bulletproof film to some windows. 

“The film is just something we’re kind of picking away at as we can,” he said. “You obviously allocate money, but there are a lot of different demands for that.”

He said they also have to think about allocating money for things like keeping their radios up-to-date so they can communicate with police, making sure their P.A. system is always working in case of an emergency and maintaining metal detectors. 

With a limited budget and changing social landscape, Smialek said the schools are doing the best they can with what they have to keep students safe. 

“We know that there’s no one answer that’s going to prevent any type of mass casualty or mass shooting. But we’re always looking for ways to try to be ahead of the curve. This is this is just one more measure that we’ve taken.”