Highland Local Schools officials were alarmed to learn that a gun used as part of a concealed carry program to protect students was found by two first-grade students who removed it from its unlocked case.

The incident played out in mid-March in an administrative office beside Highland Elementary School in South Bloomfield Township near Sparta, but only recently came to light. It has reignited in this Morrow County district — located about 40 miles north of Columbus — a debate over whether teachers and school staff should be armed to protect students from active shooters.

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"My feeling is that (guns) don't belong in schools," said Wayne Hinkle, board president of Highland Local Schools, who was the lone opponent of the concealed carry policy enacted by the five-member board a year ago. "You don't need them."

Highland Elementary is a short walk to the district's transportation office, where Vicky Nelson, transportation director, had left her pistol in a small unlocked plastic case near her desk when she left to go to the restroom.

Nelson was trained as part of the district's concealed carry program and allowed to have a gun on school property.

Her grandson, whom she had brought to school, was left alone in the office with another first-grader, the daughter of Christine Scaffidi, the assistant transportation director.

When Scaffidi walked into the office minutes later, she saw the handgun out of its case on the desk and the children nearby.

"I'm assuming that the child picked up the gun from behind the desk and had been holding it," Superintendent Dan Freund said.

He said both Nelson and Scaffidi told him what happened, but he said he didn't talk to the children because he didn't want to traumatize them.

Freund also didn't report the incident to Morrow County Sheriff John L. Hinton, who only recently learned about the lapse through a resident's Facebook post. He said he likely would have investigated had he known in March.



Freund removed Nelson from the district's concealed carry program and in early April suspended her without pay for three days.

The scenario could play out anywhere as more schools train teachers, staff or custodians to thwart mass shootings using lethal force.

School boards must, by state law, adopt safety plans and policies in a public session, said Thomas Ash, director of government relations for the Buckeye Association of School Administrators.

But school districts are not required to reveal details about firearm use, said Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Association, which advocates for gun rights and whose foundation trains school personnel to protect students. He said more districts are adopting gun programs but doing so secretly.

And security plans, which often are shared with local police and include names of school participants in the concealed carry program, are exempt from public review, said Van Keating, staff attorney for the Ohio School Boards Association.



Irvine estimates that based on his training, "well more than" 100 public districts and charter schools in Ohio have concealed carry programs, including at least one district in Franklin County that he declined to name. There are 610 public school districts statewide.

Promoting a guns program can be a deterrent to would-be mass-shooters, but keeping security secret makes sense, Irvine, school boards and others say.

"You get on a bus or airplane, you don't have a right to know if there's an undercover officer or air marshal sitting next to you ... the school has a legal and moral duty to protect those kids," said Irvine.

Added Keating, "Even if there's not a shooting issue, staff will be much better trained and aware of security."

Irvine cited an independent study showing that teachers may respond quicker and better than police. "It's their home turf. They can decipher things far faster. They can distinguish who's the victim, who's the killer."

But can they shoot to kill?

"You may confront a former student, someone you know, someone you like. Can you shoot down a child who you love?" asks Irvine.



Not everyone graduates from his three-day class, which costs $1,500 per person.

Irvine, who didn't train Highland's staff, called their incident "a bad situation."

"It's very fortunate it didn't turn into a catastrophic event," he said.

Greg Perry, a firearms trainer for the Morrow County sheriff's office, was asked to help Highland set up its program and provide four, eight-hour days of training last year.

Perry said he continually stresses the importance of securing a firearm at all times.

"What happened there was not consistent with the training provided, the policies and procedures or the conditions of being on the (concealed carry) team," he said. "That's a big no-no. It's inexcusable."

Superintendent Freund, a teacher and administrator for 50 years, said he "became physically sick" when he learned of the March incident. "People were horrified," he said.

As the district reviews its program, which includes several administrators and "select teachers," he reminds people that critical incident medical response is 20 minutes away from his district of 1,800 students.

"If someone were to get in with an AR (assault-style rifle capable of firing dozens of rounds in seconds), we're talking devastation," he said. "Is it worth the risk to carry and prevent that?"

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso