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Sunday, May 19, 2013 | 10:22 a.m.

Posted: 9:09 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013

Springboro schools threat safety plan gets look

By Lawrence Budd

SPRINGBORO —

A Springboro school committee formed in the wake of the fatal shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School met Thursday evening to review the school district’s readiness to deal with a similar emergency.

“We need to zero in on the active shooter,” board Vice President Jim Rigano said.

On Dec. 14, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot to death 20 children and six staff members at the school in Newtown, Conn. Lanza, also shot his mother to death before taking his own life by gunfire.

On Thursday evening, the Springboro Community Schools Safety Subcommittee quickly moved into executive session to learn of threats and vulnerabilities in the district’s current school safety plan, Rigano said.

Rigano cited the section of Ohio law allowing for closed-door meetings on “details relative to the security arrangements and emergency response protocols for a public body or a public office, if disclosure of the matters discussed could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the security of the public body or public office.”

On Jan. 10, after a public discussion, the Springboro board referred to the committee the discussion about changing the school security plan or allowing staff members with concealed-carry permits to bring weapons onto school grounds.

Ohio law prohibits guns and other weapons from schools, but allows anyone to carry those weapons if they have written permission from the local school board. Law enforcement officers can carry weapons on school grounds when they are acting within the scope of their duties.

Throughout the nation since the Sandy Hook killings, there have been discussions on topics ranging from arming teachers to adding controls restricting gun ownership to prevent similar tragedies.

Earlier on Thursday, at a conference near the Connecticut school, Vice President Joe Biden spoke as part of efforts by the Obama administration to rally support for gun control proposals.

In Springboro, Rigano said the committee would discuss whether to allow staff with concealed-carry permits to bring guns onto school grounds. While reviewing the district’s readiness, Rigano said the committee would make no recommendation or actions in its first meeting.

“It’s an important issue. We need to be sure we’re doing the appropriate things,” he said.

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