ANTWERP, Ohio — The administration at Antwerp Local Schools is confident in its decision to arm staff members on school grounds.
After the first year of having this policy in place, there are no regrets.
"Knowing that the training that goes into these folks, knowing that they can carry arms to school, I think is very comforting to people," Antwerp Superintendent Martin Miller said.
The school district is one of three in northwest Ohio with armed staff members; the other two being Edgerton and Old Fort.
In sum, four staff members, outside of the school's resource officer, are licensed to carry firearms on school property. However, none of those staff members are teachers.
"We didn't want our teachers to even have to think about this in terms of them carrying themselves," Miller said. "We want them to know that they are well protected, but we want them to focus on educating our kids."
Those with kids in the district say that the policies are a good thing to have.
"Anything there that can protect the kids before I could get to them across the street even, it's what's needed," said Jaimie Larson, a parent of four kids enrolled at Antwerp.
The idea of having policies comes after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 99 in June 2022, which granted local boards of education the authority to decide whether to allow school staff to carry firearms.
Fast-forward to today and the Ohio Department of Public Safety says it's looking into spending almost $80,000 to purchase a pair of Mobile Modular Shoot Houses from a North Carolina-based company, Kontek Industries.
The goal of these houses is to simulate the inside of a school and provide armed school staff with real-world training when applying for a license.
Although the money to pay for these are taxpayer dollars, the investment is something that at least one community member agrees with.
"For me, I'd be okay with my money going for that, because it's important," Anastasia Larson, Jaimie Larson's wife, said. "The teachers have to be there to protect them just as much, so I think it's a very good thing. "
According to data from the Washington Post, from 1999 to April 12, 2024, there have been more than 400 school shootings in the United States.
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