School Emergency Management Plans
Rapid Dismissal, School Safety, and Tornado Drills
Ohio Revised Code 3737.73 defines school requirements regarding rapid dismissal fire drills, school safety drills, and tornado drills based upon school characteristics.
Safety and Violence Prevention Training
Amended Substitute House Bill 276 of the 126th Ohio General Assembly (2007) mandated that the Ohio Department of Education work with state agency partners and education organizations to prepare a model policy that would guide every Ohio school district in developing a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying. The bill also required ODE to develop a safety and violence prevention curriculum to train elementary school professionals to detect child abuse.
Amended Substitute House Bill 1 of the 128th Ohio General Assembly (2009) extended this requirement to include public middle school and high school personnel. Substitute House Bill 59, passed in June 2013, added Human Trafficking to the required topics to be covered in the Safety and Violence Prevention Curriculum in-service training. An Ohio Department of Education curriculum that may be used to fulfill the requirement is posted below. Specific aspects of the Amended H.B. 1 and the previous legislation (Ohio Revised Code Section 3319.073)
Model Anti-Harassment, Anti-Intimidation and Anti-Bullying Policy
This State Board of Education-approved model policy contains procedures for reporting, documenting and investigating incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying (including cyber bullying) as explained in the model policy and Ohio Revised Code. The document delineates responsibilities for school personnel and presents student intervention strategies. The policy also states the requirements for districts to:
- Consult with students, parents, school employees, volunteers and community members in developing policies and programs;
- Publish policies in student handbooks and employee training materials;
- Locally report on a semiannual basis a summary of reported incidents;
- Provide training on local policies to the extent that state or federal funds are appropriated for these purposes.
Title IX: Sexual Discrimination
The Title IX regulation states that "except for provided elsewhere in this part, no person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any academic, extracurricular, research, occupational training, or other education program or activity operated by a recipient which receives ... Federal financial assistance…” (to read further visit www.hhs.gov).
A complete training guide for administrators and educators is available here.
