TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Public Schools will not allow teachers and other employees to carry firearms.
Board members voted unanimously on a resolution against arming school staff Tuesday night.
The move came after the state legislature passed a law that lowered the required training for employees to be armed.
Ohio House Bill 99, which was signed into law on June 13, reduced the current firearm training requirements for school personnel from 700 hours to only 24 hours.
The bill followed the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas where 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
"Thinking about our teachers, they already do enough and having that responsibility with limited training is not the way to produce a welcoming environment for anyone," Sheena Barnes, vice president of TPS' Board of Education, said after HB 99 was passed and prior to Tuesday's board meeting.
Barnes said the board reached the decision to opt out after talking to the Toledo community, members of TPD and especially their own teachers and students. Instead, Barnes wants teachers armed with more resources, not guns.
"Our teachers love our students as their own, and to put them in that position for any reason is unfair to them and DeWine should actually listen to teachers," Barnes said.
Each district can decide to opt out of participating in the new law, as TPS did.
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