PARMA, Ohio — Parma City School District is clearing the air when it comes to a resolution the Board of Education approved last month to allow select staff members to be armed.
“This was never about arming teachers. This was not about arming anyone in the classroom setting,” said Parma City School District Superintendent Charles Smialek.
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Still, parents like Nadine Jamison told News 5 they do not support the district’s decision to arm anyone who is not a trained police officer.
Jamison said she also wishes the board would have been more specific when the district first told parents.
“I think, especially when you’re talking about something as dangerous as a weapon inside a school building, that you really need to put fears to bed first,” Jamison said.
During News 5’s first report on this story last month, Board President Steven Vaughn told News 5 in a statement that school leaders decided to arm ‘select’ staff members after seeing more school shootings and other violent acts in districts across the country.
"[The board agreed to] not publicly identify these members as the element of the unknown is, in itself, an aggravating factor to those who may be selecting sites to begin a tragedy,” Vaughn said.
But because of the amount of feedback and the questions the district has received, Superintendent Charles Smialek said they're providing further clarification.
“I want to be very clear that this was never intended to arm anyone who works in a classroom. This was really at our security and potentially a few more classified employees, maybe a door monitor,” Smialek said.
Regardless of who’s being armed, Alexis Bogucki said she supports the district’s decision because she said she wants to feel her niece is safe while in the classroom.
“Our children’s safety is the biggest priority, and to have individuals in the school system who can protect them when we’re not there is the biggest accomplishment that we can have,” Bogucki said.
Smialek said the next step is for the board to meet and review their policies for arming staff before the plan is carried out.
“We want to make sure that as we write our policy that could allow for that that we really weigh all the pros and cons that we possibly can to make sure that we’re making as safe of a decision for our students as possible,” Smialek said.
