COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the states current law that says, “no school shall employ a person as a special police officer, security guard, or other position in which such person goes armed while on duty,” unless that person has completed either peace-officer training or served at least 20 years as an active-duty officer.”
The legal challenge came out of Butler County, after parents filed a lawsuit against the Madison Local School district. The district instituted a policy that allowed staff to carry a gun, after a shooting at the junior high school, in 2016.
Parents in the Madison Local District filed the lawsuit against the district claiming that the policy needs to require more in-depth training.
Madison Local School administrators, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost submitted legal briefs supporting the policy. Yost, and the district argued that the requirements only apply to school employees who serve in safety or security roles.
Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, agreed with the parents understanding of the state law and said, “the Ohio General Assembly, when writing the law, could have stated that the experience/training requirement only applies to security staff, but it didn’t.”