Streetsboro City Schools established a Proactive Response Team in 2017 in order to complement an active response from law enforcement in the event of an emergency involving an active threat, like a school shooter, or other violent event where lives are at risk.
Designed with utmost discretion, and with staff and student safety in mind, and with a goal to keep teachers in the classroom teaching rather than worrying about the extra burden of carrying a firearm, Streetsboro’s program members have always been selected from volunteers who are non-instructional staff.
From 2017 until 2021, Proactive Response Team members trained, prepared for, and actively participated in drills focused around school safety, active threats, threat mitigation, and advanced first aid and trauma casualty care on a monthly basis. Each year included intensive summer sessions spanning multiple days in a row.
In 2021, the Ohio Supreme Court overruled local Board ordinance (Gabbard v. Madison Local Board of Ed.) to approve armed staff programs and all members disarmed, but continued training in the hopes of a renewed effort to provide additional capability in keeping our schools safe.
The specific objective of the Proactive Response Team is to identify threats, and if possible, stop a violent attacker from killing students and staff, as well as to assist law enforcement and safety services in post-threat mitigation and crisis response.
This past week, the Streetsboro City Schools Proactive Response Team was re-authorized under Ohio Revised Code 5502.703 and local Board of Education protocol to arm staff members that meet the Board and ORC specified requirements. All current members are non-teaching staff and have met or exceeded the requirements set forth by HB 99, as administered by the Ohio School Safety Center (OSSC).
Members of the Proactive Response Team who are so authorized by the Board carry firearms and associated equipment during the day while performing their normal responsibilities and duties. In the interest of the safety of the program and the PRT staff members, their identity is not disclosed in accordance with local and state emergency management protocols, and is not available through a public records request, per ORC 149.43.
Ongoing training topics for the team follow the prescribed Armed School Staff Essential Training Program developed by the OSSC, and include, but are not limited to, immediate threat mitigation, threat detection and identification, advanced trauma care, emergency management, and crisis response. Armed staff members are part of the district’s emergency response protocol in conjunction with a police and fire department response.
If you have any additional questions about the Proactive Response Team, the qualifications of armed individuals, or any other concern, comment, or feedback, please contact the Superintendent’s office during normal business hours.
Thank you for your help and support in keeping our students and staff safe while in and around our school buildings and grounds.
Sincerely,
R. Michael Daulbaugh
Superintendent