Rural Ohio school district will allow teachers and staff to ARM themselves with guns

An Ohio school district says it plans to respond to America’s spate of school shootings by taking advantage of a new law that would allow trained teachers and staff to be armed.

Caledonia’s River Valley Local School District will allow its four buildings to arm teachers after proper training, one of 23 in the state to benefit from a law signed into law in 2022 by Governor Mike DeWine.

Superintendent Adam Wickham said he will not allow his students and staff to be left unprotected.

“Our schools will no longer be soft targets and unprotected,” said Adam Wickham. “Most events with active shooters take place in areas with ‘gun-free zones’ or with minimal security measures. We want to ensure that our schools do not become soft targets.’

Wickham stressed the need for safe gun use in response to a possible shooter in rural Caledonia, which has a population of just 560.

Caledonia’s River Valley Local School District will allow its four buildings to arm teachers after proper training, one of 23 in the state to benefit from a law signed into law in 2022 by Governor Mike DeWine.

“As a rural community, response times can often be minutes away in the event of an active shooter,” Wickham told the Marion Star. “The deployment of armed personnel in our buildings may save lives by responding more quickly to the threat.”

He specifically mentioned shootings in recent years in Nashville, Uvalde and Parkland that killed several children and teachers.

‘[They] clearly shows that the faster the reaction time, the more likely you are to potentially save lives,” he said.

In addition to possibly armed personnel, the local sheriff’s office will have one armed staff member and a school resource officer in the middle school, high school, and two elementary schools in the city.

“Some have asked questions about the training and selection process,” said Wickham.

‘The vast majority of parents have expressed appreciation for the proactive approach to protecting their children. That is really an important reason to switch to the deployment of armed personnel.’

Wickham knows that not everyone will be in favor of this but that’every security measure we take at River Valley, including the use of armed personnel, is taken to ensure that our staff and students can safely return home to their families and loved ones each day.”

DeWine signed House Bill 99 allowing teachers to be armed with 24 hours of training, despite Democrats’ argument that the bill, which is optional for schools, sends the wrong message.

People are pulled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following a school shooting that reportedly killed and injured several people in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018

This handout video recording courtesy of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released March 27, 2023 shows suspect Audrey Hale holding an assault rifle inside the Covenant School building at Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, Tennessee

Police Chief Pete Arredondo on the left. Police step into a hallway after Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School to kill 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (pictured center) signed House Bill 99, allowing teachers to be armed with 24 hours of training, despite Democrats’ argument that the bill, which is optional for schools, sends the wrong message

The bill aims to protect children by ensuring instruction is specific to schools and includes significant scenario-based training, DeWine said when announcing his support.

The measure was opposed by major law enforcement groups, gun control advocates and the state teachers’ unions, who asked DeWine to veto the measure. It is supported by a handful of police departments and school districts.

Wickham has promised that his school district will follow its own policy of requiring a total of 50 hours of training for anyone who wants to be armed.