EATON —The Eaton Community Schools Board of Education will be holding a special meeting on Monday, March 26, for a presentation on school safety, with time allotted for public input.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center.
The meeting notice was issued to all during the Board Meeting on Monday, March 12, with Board President Lisa Noble encouraging all to attend.
During the same meeting on March 12, the board approved a resolution in support of school safety. It stated, “Whereas, school violence has become an epidemic in the United States of America; Whereas, the children and school employees of our nation deserve to attend school without fear of death or injury, and their families deserve to send them to school without the same fear;
“Whereas, there is a mutual responsibility of all citizens to address this problem and the responsibility for preventing violent incidents cannot be relegated to school districts alone; Whereas, multiple studies have shown that the majority of Americans support action to eliminate violence in our schools;
“Whereas, school board members, administrators, employees and community members should work together with lawmakers, legal counsel, law enforcement and security experts to determine how best to ensure student safety in their district;
“Therefore, be it resolved that the Eaton Community School Board of Education implores the President of the United States, the Governor of the State of Ohio, the United States Congress, and the Ohio General Assembly to prioritize the protection of students and school employees by enacting legislation with funding for the following:
•Enhanced mental health services and substance abuse treatment so that all individuals, including children, have sufficient access to these services.
•Increased access to school safety measures, including, but not limited to, School Resource Officers (SROs), school safety infrastructure, and other security measures designed to protect students and staff from an active shooter on school grounds.
•Training for school employees and enhanced coordination with law enforcement agencies and first responders to ensure appropriate responses to incidents of violence in the schools.
•Preserving the balance between the right to own firearms and the protection of students and school employees from any act of violence.”
The board opened the meeting by discussing a very serious issue, details of which are required to be kept confidential. The board entered executive session at the beginning of the meeting to discuss a student disciplinary expulsion. When they returned from executive session, they recommended the student in question be expelled.
“I would like to say that, in addition to this, we did recommend that the student does pursue some sort of education at this time in order to continue his education,” President Noble said.
During reports, board member Terry Parks shared final numbers have come through for the Miami Valley Career Technology Center (MVCTC) construction project. However, he did not have them on hand. He will share more information during the April board meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Eaton Community School Board will be on Monday, April 9, at 6 p.m. at Hollingsworth East Elementary.
