School officials said attendance was similar to the previous week, with few related absences reported.
At Mad River Local Schools, members of the administration stood at the entrance to each school building Monday morning to answer questions and take comments and concerns from parents.
“Later in the day, our administrators met to discuss those comments and concerns,” said Jenny Birtle, Mad River spokeswoman. “We have state-of-the-art schools, but in light of this tragedy we know you can never really prepare (completely) for something like this.”
At three Miami Valley schools, that preparation has been escalated due to individual threats of violence; two related to the Connecticut tragedy, and one that was made before the violence erupted.
A Springfield High School student was arrested and removed from the school in handcuffs Monday after spreading “fear and chaos within the school by sending a series of messages on a Twitter account,” Superintendent David Estrop said.
The student said he was going to do the same things as what happened in Connecticut, according to school officials.
At nearby Shawnee High School, a 17-year-old junior posted a message on Facebook Sunday that he could “do better” than killing 26 people, a reference to the people who died in the elementary school shooting in Connecticut.
The post has since been taken down and the student was suspended for 10 days, with an expulsion hearing to follow.
At the Greene County Career Center, parents were alerted Monday regarding a threatening message found on a bathroom wall Dec. 11. The message, scrawled in ball-point pen and located inside a bathroom stall, threatened to kill people Dec. 18.
Ron Bolender, public information administrator for the GCCC, said school officials immediately contacted police, who started to investigate. Police said security would be beefed up at the school Tuesday.
Bolender said the notification to parents was delayed due to the Connecticut tragedy.
“There was discussion about sending the call out Friday, but that would have heightened emotions even more,” he said. “It’s not really connected to what happened Friday, but it certainly intensifies the emotion. We take it seriously, regardless, and had steps in place before that happened.”
About 600 students are enrolled in GCCC’s main campus at 2960 W. Enon Road in Xenia Twp. Bolender said the career center is constructed more like a college campus than a traditional high school, with two buildings and a number of outside entrances.
“We do keep them locked down, and all outside labs with overhead doors are fenced in with locks,” he said. “Since (the school shooting in) Columbine; that was the turning point in ramping up security systems and having cameras.”
Local schools have security plans and systems in place and are required to file those plans with the state, per Ohio law. Districts continually address procedures through lockdown drills, training seminars and evolving practices.
Birtle said her district is planning a mock drill that involves the Riverside Police Department, based on lessons learned from Chardon High School school officials during a seminar held in November. The Cleveland-area school had three students killed in a shooting in February.
“They said they lowered their casualties because their kids had gone through a mock drill,” Birtle said of Chardon. “They know what happens and what to do.”
Superintendent John Kronour said Tipp City Schools has a meeting with police Tuesday to review lockdown procedures the district has done and what they can do better. He agreed school officials do their best to learn from these tragedies.
“That’s the nature of the business with education, you keep trying to gather more information,” he said.
Although schools reported not having many requests for counseling services on Monday, support was on hand to assist as needed. Many districts reported phone calls from parents since the shooting, asking about security measures in place at the schools.
“Most of the increase in the calls came on Friday and in most cases, parents are understandably anxious about what happened in Connecticut and are seeking some reassurance that their children are safe in the Kettering schools,” said Kari Basson, district spokeswoman. “We understand their concerns because most of us are parents, as well, and have the same concerns about our own children.”
Middletown City Schools Superintendent Greg Rasmussen echoed the sentiment of schools throughout the region when he said that school safety was the top priority of district officials.
“We believe our schools are safe,” Rasmussen said. “The district’s school resource officers are well-trained in crisis response. Our SROs and local police help promote a positive and safe environment.”
Each district questioned said they will continue to do what they can to make the rest of the week — or days, in some cases — before winter break constructive and calm.
Noted Joni Copas of Hamilton City Schools: “We want to have normal school routines as much as possible.”
Staff writer Tiffany Y. Latta contributed to this report.
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