Loveland Magazine

LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor

Since 2004

Tag: security

  • School safety training grants available for schools in Ohio

    School safety training grants available for schools in Ohio

    Schools will have the flexibility to use these grants for things like training for school resource officers, safety and security materials, and programs to identify and help students who may be struggling with their mental health.

    Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has announced that he is awarding $12 million in grants to help enhance safety and security at schools across the state.

    All of Ohio’s public schools, chartered nonpublic schools, and schools operated by county boards of developmental disabilities will receive the greater of $2,500 or $5.65 per student to spend toward school safety programs and training.

    “Schools will have the flexibility to use these grants for things like training for school resource officers, safety and security materials, and programs to identify and help students who may be struggling with their mental health,” said DeWine

    The grants are funded with appropriations made by the Ohio legislature as part of House Bill 318. The bill, which was sponsored by state representatives Sarah LaTourette (R-Chesterland) and John Patterson (D-Jefferson), appointed the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to develop the school safety training grant program in consultation with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

    The law requires that participating schools and county boards work with law enforcement in their jurisdictions to determine the best use of the grant funding.

    A full list of grant awards can be found on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.

    Other Resourses

    • Active Shooter Response: An Educator’s Guide: This 25-part video series was produced by the Attorney General’s Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) to aid educators in preparing for and reacting to a potentially violent school incident, such as a school shooting. The brief videos are an update to the training offered by OPOTA beginning in 2013 that provided guidance to nearly 15,000 educators on how to intervene with students who could pose a danger and how to respond in a crisis situation.
    • Emergency Management Plan Aerial Photographs: Special agents with the Attorney General’s Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) are available to take free aerial photographs of school buildings for inclusion in school emergency management plans. BCI currently has six drones that are used primarily to document crime scenes and assist in missing persons cases, but BCI is offering to use its drones to take aerial photos of school campuses to help law enforcement plan for and respond to an emergency. School administrators, in coordination with local law enforcement, can request photographs by calling 855-BCI-OHIO (855-224-6446).

    Attorney General DeWine also worked with schools across the state to achieve greater compliance on school safety plans and convened a School Safety Task Force that issued dozens of school safety recommendations. The task force recognized that mental health awareness was essential for schools to identify and intervene with students who may be at risk.

  • Loveland School District Financial Update

    Loveland School District Financial Update

    Terrah Floyd is the Interim Treasurer & CFO of the Loveland City School District

    By Terrah Floyd,

    Loveland’s recent update to the district’s financial projections show that the district remains committed to keeping the promises made from the last levy – to make the last levy last through 2018 through conservative fiscal management while maintaining excellent educational opportunities for the students we serve. The district’s forecast, called the five-year financial forecast, was approved by the Board at the April 17 Business Meeting. The five-year financial forecast is a tool that aligns our income and expenses to our district’s current and future goals with respect to academics, operations and facilities. There are some updates to note.

    The district is investing in additional school building safety and security updates. These are needed in order to keep pace with the current safety and security needs and to reflect the changing times.

    First, the forecast shows that the district is investing in additional school building safety and security updates. These are needed in order to keep pace with the current safety and security needs and to reflect the changing times. They include placing fire-code approved locks on interior doors of our buildings, and plan for increased school resource officer presence.

    Plans include placing fire-code approved locks on interior doors of our buildings, and plan for increased school resource officer presence.

    The district is engaging in a Master Planning process with the community. This is an investment, and it is critical to the long-term planning and operations of the district. Aging buildings bring significant costs, and in order to help minimize these for the future we are working now to make sure that we are deliberate about our next steps.

    In fact, we will be able to stretch it a bit longer, and anticipate that an operating levy will be needed in 2019.

    Loveland continues to stretch every dollar and to wisely plan for the future. Our Board of Education kept the promise of making the last levy last through 2018. In fact, we will be able to stretch it a bit longer, and anticipate that an operating levy will be needed in 2019. Operating levies fund the day-to-day operations of our schools like staff, programs, textbooks and supplies.

    To provide you with relevant history, the Loveland City School District passed a 5.6 mill operating levy in May of 2014; passage of the levy provided the district the opportunity to invest in and enrich the excellent education we provide by enhancing the classroom experience for the 4,800 students we serve. None of these investments could have happened without your support, and – as always – we offer a sincere thank you to those who believed in our mission and continue to support our district.

  • Tiger Safety Update from the Superintendent

    Tiger Safety Update from the Superintendent

    by Dr. Amy Crouse, Loveland Superintendent

    It has been one month since I communicated with you in a formal way about Tiger Safety; at that time I was reacting as interim superintendent to the sadness we all felt in Tiger Nation to the news of the February 14 fatal school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Since that event, I have heard from many of you with questions about safety. As such, I wanted to bring you up-to-speed on the work we have been involved in.

    I have heard from many of you with questions about safety.

    Immediately following the February 14 event, after our buildings had a chance to review safety procedures, the district sent a comprehensive safety survey to our Tiger Staff. This survey created an opportunity for every employee – secretaries, teachers, administrators, food service professionals, transportation, custodial professionals and paraprofessionals – to tell senior leaders very directly what opportunities we, as a district, had to enhance the safety of our campus.

    Monday, March 12, safety experts from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Greater Cincinnati Fusion Center, and Loveland Police Chief Sean Rahe conducted a safety assessment of our buildings.

    Monday, March 12, safety experts from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Greater Cincinnati Fusion Center, and Loveland Police Chief Sean Rahe conducted a safety assessment of our buildings, so they could also make recommendations on how we could improve security.

    Additionally, we have collected the comments we have received from parents – from social media posts to emails to Board meetings – and all of those concerns were categorized and presented to a special meeting of our District Safety Committee Thursday, March 15. This was the opportunity for our core team to talk through the suggestions with our community’s professional emergency responders to begin to develop a plan of action with clear priorities.

    As the superintendent of the Loveland City School District, what I want you to know is this: We aren’t just listening – we are taking action. The safety and security of our students and staff is a top priority for our Board of Education. It is a top priority for me as your educational leader.

    If you have questions related to safety, please see this comprehensive resource (http://www.lovelandschools.org/TigerSafety.aspx)

    I will continue to bring you updates on Tiger Safety as we work through the process. In the meantime, if you have questions related to safety, please see this comprehensive resource (http://www.lovelandschools.org/TigerSafety.aspx) we have made available for our Tiger families to review how we are trained and the resources we currently have to keep our district safe. Don’t hesitate to contact your principal for any questions specific to your student’s building.

    In service to our Tigers,

    Dr. Amy Crouse

    Superintendent
    Loveland City School District