School safety concerns have risen as reports of school shootings seem more frequent. When 20 children and six staff members were killed in 2012 after a gunman entered and open-fired in Sandy Hook Elementary School, the staff of the Sidney City School District approached the Board of Education (BOE) for a plan to help keep the district’s students safe in the event an active shooter should ever enter one of its school buildings.

The BOE and staff members created a unique security plan not found elsewhere. It offers a fast, effective approach to stopping an active shooter by using a highly-trained “Armed Response Team” (ART) made up of teachers, administrators, and custodians; at the same time, it provides a working solution to concerns about having firearms present in schools.

“Here’s the thing,” says Sidney City Schools’ Superintendent, John Scheu, “Data shows that school shootings have increased dramatically. A lot of districts spend a lot of money to try and keep a shooter out of the building. However, even with the best security measures, things happen. Kids might let a stranger into a building, adults will hold a door to let someone in. Sandy Hook had a brand-new security system, but the gunman just shot his way into the school. Then he went to the classrooms where teachers were doing what they had been trained to do--which was lock the room, stay away from the windows, and take students into a safe place. But he simply shot his way into the classroom and killed every one of them. Our plan puts that kind of threat out quickly, saves more lives, and prevents carnage.”

The district’s ART members are handpicked from a list of volunteers. The team goes through constant training through the Sheriff’s office and, once qualified, has access to loaded weapons and bulletproof vests that are locked away in biometric safes throughout the district’s seven buildings. The safes are hidden from students and the rest of the staff and can only be unlocked is with a fingerprint registered to the safe.

Ankney says the use of biometric safes is what sets Sidney’s plan apart as it offers the best compromise between the need to have weapons easily accessible, and the concern expressed by many of staff carrying firearms on their person. The biometric safes allow the team to quickly reach the firearms, while keeping weapons out of reach of students and untrained staff.

Scheu says although it may not be perfect, Sidney’s security plan and the ART is the best solution they’ve come across yet that lets them deal quickly with a threat and save the lives of children.

“If you do the math, according to data we have so far, a kid or teacher has been shot or killed every 17 seconds in one of these active shooter situations. In one of the ART’s recent practice sessions, it took them only 47 seconds to take the active shooter out...but even then a child or teacher would still get shot or killed. The police have said they can respond in a matter of minutes...again, do the math. We believe we have a well-organized strategy to deal with an active shooter effectively and put the threat out quickly.”

According to Sidney City Schools Board of Education President, Bill Ankney, the district’s relationship with the Shelby County Sheriff’s office is the main key that makes the entire plan possible.

“Sheriff Lenhart has been extremely supportive. He supplies the Resource officers who work with ART members. The Resource officers also serve as aides during the school day. The Sheriff also provides all of the necessary training free of charge to the team. The only things he doesn’t pay for is the CCW license that volunteers are required to have be on the ART, and the salaries of the Resource officers. Sheriff Lenhart helps us whenever and wherever he can. We are very blessed to have his support.”

Scheu concludes, “Some of my colleagues have asked me why we spend so much money on something that will probably never happen. I tell them that if (a shooting) can happen in a little Amish school, it can happen in Sidney, Ohio...and if it ever does, we are prepared to deal with it quickly and effectively, with a logical plan, in the best way we can.”

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