By Anna Huntsman/Broadcast version by Mary Kuhlman
Reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration

A new Ohio law is making millions available for schools to implement new safety measures, such as training new school resource officers.

In addition to authorizing $14 million in grant funds for schools, House Bill 318 requires new school resource officers (SROs) – law enforcement officers who serve full-time in school buildings – to participate in at least 40 hours of training through an Ohio peace officer training commission-approved organization. They must also undergo juvenile psychology training to better respond to adolescent mental health and drug use, and “to not only be law enforcement, but also to be on the cutting edge of issues students might have and ward them off before they become major problems,” said Ohio state Rep. John Patterson, D-Jefferson, who co-sponsored the bill.

The bill does not mandate that schools hire an SRO; rather, it defines duties and qualifications for new SROs. Some of the SRO expectations listed in the bill include being a “positive role model for youth,” helping to maintain a “drug-free environment” among students, and assisting with an “emergency management plan.”

While the bill is the first Ohio law to define what it means to be a school resource officer, not all SROs do their jobs the same way.

Officer Jason Fogleman serves as the SRO for Streetsboro City Schools in Portage County. Like many SROs, he is a uniformed police officer equipped with a gun, trained to respond to threats in the district, but he said that is only part of his job description.

“A lot of people think an SRO is just there for security. That’s a very minor part of the job that we do. It’s almost secondary,” Fogleman said. “School resource officers provide that link between the child’s education, their family life and the real world they’re going to be entering.”

Fogleman said that while the law could help smaller schools afford qualified SROs, he worries about government interference in a job that is so broadly defined.

“My job and my role is so broad with our school district and I have such leeway to do so many different things that I’m afraid if we start mandating certain things,” he said, “is that going to take away some of the stuff that I can do?”

The bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Sarah LaTourette, R-Chesterland, said the law requires schools to adopt a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with their SRO, allowing school districts to monitor them and their security officers the best way it works for them.

“It’s not the state coming in and saying you have to do A, B, C and D,” she said. “It’s saying that you have to have this contract with the school district you’re going to be in defining what your role is going to be.”

Gov. John Kasich signed H.B. 318 on Aug. 3, and it will take effect Nov. 2. Only eight other states have similar legislation.

The bill was partially inspired by the shooting at Chardon High School in Geauga County that killed three students and injured three more in February 2012. At the time, the school district did not have an SRO, but Frank Hall, an assistant football coach at the time, chased the shooter out of the building. His actions led to the creation of the Coach Hall Foundation.

Tim Armelli, a teacher at Chardon High School and the foundation’s president, said he approached Patterson, who represents Geauga County in the statehouse, about sponsoring legislation that would not only help fund SRO training, but first, define what the SRO’s responsibilities are. “Every school has the capability of getting an SRO in their building right away,” he said. “That would be a real quick way of helping, at least getting towards...keeping our kids protected.”

Patterson then asked LaTourette, his Republican counterpart in Geauga County, to co-sponsor the bill.

“We were very dedicated the entire time to making sure that regardless of what we added to the bill, that we kept a bill that both chambers, both parties, could be extremely proud of at the end of the day,” LaTourette said.

Before the law takes effect in November, the Ohio Attorney General’s office is developing the application process for schools interested in receiving some of the grant money.

“The money is very flexible, as long as it’s used for something that will protect kids,” Armelli said.

He hopes other states will pass similar legislation. “Our next step now is ... let’s show them what Ohio has done as a blueprint and get [other states] on board, too,” he said.

Armelli is especially excited to join Chardon’s students at the start of the new school year now that H.B. 318 passed. “I’m walking around with a little better step than I have in the last couple years, knowing that the bill passed,” he said. “I can look at these kids with a little different light. We’re doing things that are helping these kids.”

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This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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Educators and public school advocates are pushing back on a measure which would consolidate state-funded services that have been an important part of schools in rural Iowa for generations. Some state lawmakers said the funding could be used more efficiently.

Area Education Agencies have been the go-to place for educators in rural Iowa when they need state services at the local level, in all 99 Iowa counties. House Bill 2612 would consolidate the agencies, outsource some of their services and give the state oversight of them.

Mike Owen, deputy director of the group Common Good Iowa, said the agencies have been critical resources for generations.

"The Area Education Agencies have been a very valuable regional system that helps school districts, large and small, with various services that they can't really do on their own," Owen explained. "From special education to media services, to professional development of teachers."

Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed the measure, said it will provide a more efficient way to spend the state's education dollars. It is scheduled to take effect July 1.

The battle over public school funding has been playing out on a variety of fronts in Iowa, which enjoys a reputation for some of the best-quality public education in the nation. The state recently enacted a private school voucher program, paid for with state dollars.

Owen sees consolidating the Area Education Agencies and outsourcing some of the services they provide as another step in the wrong direction for Iowa's K-12 classrooms.

"It's total disrespect to locally elected decision-makers for schools," Owen contended. "One more example of how education, unfortunately, is being used to pit people against one another, when it is really a unifying value for Iowans."

There are nine Area Education Agencies in Iowa. The State Department of Education will assume oversight of all of them.


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The solar eclipse has sparked more interest in science and technology, especially among young people.

But the saying, 'You can't be what you don't see,' is a reality for youth of color considering a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math career.

A 2024 Black Girls and STEM Report indicates this demographic aspires to become astronauts, engineers and more -- but a lack of Black representation can dampen their enthusiasm.

Crystal Morton is the founder and director of the Girls STEM Institute, which offers courses for girls ages 7 to 18.
She said the emphasis is on relevant cultural content and careers for girls who might not otherwise have access to these experiences.

"That might be doing a session on the science of Black hair," said Morton, "looking at different products to understand the science behind how that product is made, and what's in that product or how it may be impacting them. So, we make our own products. You can be able to look at a label and say, 'Hey, I should be able to pronounce what I'm putting on my skin, or in my hair.'"

She said the students quickly get the connections.

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics says about one-third of STEM workers are women. But Black workers make up only 18% of the 35 million people employed in STEM fields.

Morton said the Institute's Saturday programs are in partnership with the Indiana University, Indianapolis School of Education. And in the summer, volunteers engage with students about careers in aviation and medicine.

As a former math teacher, Morton said she believes early exposure to this information is key, and said kids begin showing their curiosity as early as third grade.

"Understanding how things happen with technology, that they all need to have different mathematical levels of understanding," said Morton. "They need to have computational thinking skills, because that's the way this world is moving. And I believe that they do have it -- if you just sit back and watch them play, you see the problem solving happen."

A report on Indiana's STEM education priorities shows the number of undergraduate degrees is up since 2015, but the number of STEM-related degrees awarded hasn't moved much.

Hispanic and Black students earn between 3% and 5% of those STEM degrees. They make up 6% and 9% of the state's population, respectively.

In the past four years, the way New Mexico children are taught to read has undergone a major shift. Following passage of a state law in 2019, the state's elementary teachers have received training in "structured literacy" and the science of reading.

Research shows kids learn to read when they are able to identify letters or combinations of letters and connect those letters to sounds. But teaching that skill is not always intuitive.

Severo Martinez, Literacy and Humanities director, said there are more than 500 elementary schools in the state, and the two-year training occurs while teachers continue working in the classroom.

"Teachers of any discipline, they're teaching literacy skills, still -- even if they're a math teacher, if they're a science teacher, if it's social studies -- if you can't read, you can't do any of the assignments in any of those classes," Martinez explained.

In addition to boosting the number of students achieving reading proficiency, the program aims to reduce the number of students who require special education services.

This school year, the Public Education Department launched a reading challenge -- encouraging students to become "Superhero Readers" and "level up" their reading scores. Martinez even wrote a book for students focusing on the rich cultural diversity and history of New Mexico. He hopes it will all combine to make them proud adults -- eager to make a positive contribution to the world.

"With the Level Up Reading Challenge, we want to motivate students and supporting them in understanding the 'why' it is so important to learn to read and write - because that's going to open up a world of possibilities for them into the future," Martinez continued.

To catch common disabilities that stall reading proficiency, Martinez says New Mexico now requires that first-grade students receive screenings for dyslexia by the 40th day of the school year. Starting this summer, the Public Education Department will also offer tutoring to make sure all students achieve reading competence.


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