TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Wednesday marks the first day on the job for Diana Ruiz-Krause as the new Chief of Security for Toledo Public Schools and given Wednesday's climate, some may argue she has one of the most important jobs in town.
"It's an honor that TPS feels that I can handle this responsibility and they feel that I can handle the security for this large school district," Ruiz-Krause said.
A district in which she actually received all of her education from. She is also a graduate of the University of Toledo where she rounded out her formal education.
Ruiz-Krause has spent 34 years as a Toledo police officer before taking on this new role she was appointed by the school board.
"I'm very fortunate to be able to have that good relationship with the Toledo police department," she said.
A relationship she says will help her in getting all the schools prepared so what happened in Florida will not happen here.
Her goal in this new role is get all Toledo Public Schools reinforced with A.L.I.C.E training and offering simulated situations.
"We'll have actors who will play the role of a bad guy and we will see how our staff will respond and we'll give them feedback and tell them things that will improve their response," Ruiz-Krause said.
But their goal is ambitious.
They are one of the largest school districts in the area with 52 schools and only two have had this training completed: Waite High School and Chase Stem Academy.
They want all the schools trained before the end of the school year. That's about 50 schools in a span of about 12 weeks.
"Especially with our staff, it is ambitious but it's something we have to do and some of these things are mandated by the state and we obviously will comply with state mandates," she said.
To ensure students are safe, she says parents need to be just as involved.
"Help us by keeping track of what their kids are doing," she asserted. Talk to their children let them know. Don't talk about those types of things in schools. Don't be a part of the problem by spreading rumors."
And most importantly she says to both parents and students: "If you see something, please just say something."
