CAMDEN — The Preble Shawnee Local Schools Board of Education met Thursday, Nov. 10, and discussed threat assessment, school safety concerns, and a number of donations made to the school.
Superintendent Todd Bowling updated the board on the progress of the Threat Assessment Training program, which applies to middle and high school staff members.
“What the Threat Assessment Training includes is a team that is put together by the high school and middle school staff. They start to look for key factors, things that would identify students who might have some key things, or things that would identify them as somebody involved in threats or dangers to the school,” Bowling explained.
Bowling added, once the Threat Assessment Team has been assembled, they will hold monthly meetings, as well as change the title of the team. The team will receive safety concerns from staff, teachers and students and investigate the individuals in question to ascertain whether they are a danger to the school or themselves.
In line with safety protocol, Preble Shawnee will also host a school safety walk-through with Sheriff Mike Simpson, Camden Police Chief Matt Spurlock and Preble Shawnee School Resource Officers to help identify safety concerns.
Bowling added, Preble Shawnee will be updating the door locks at the school, and the window tinting, and will be adding GPS systems to school buses.
These updates are being funded by a series of safety grants, according to Bowling.
“We want to be proactive, not reactive,” said Bowling when speaking of the school’s security, making the observation that Ohio is not known for school shootings, but Preble Shawnee intends to be preventative of any such tragedies.
In other business:
• The board approved the receipt of a $1,500 donation from Michael and Cynthia Klapper and family for the Jill Taylor Memorial Scholarship, as well as a $1,845 donation to be made for repairs to the softball fields, from an anonymous party.
• The board approved a School Assistant Psychologist Contract between Preble Shawnee BOE and Jamie Krebs.
• The board approved a 2 percent raise on the salary for the superintendent.
The Preble Shawnee Board of Education meeting is a public meeting, held at the Preble Shawnee High School, 5495 Somers-Gratis Road, the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m.
