2/16/18 – 5:15 A.M.

In the wake of another school shooting, local education leaders and law enforcement are talking about school safety with area students. Hancock County Sheriff’s Office crime prevention officer Beth Baker tells the Courier parents shouldn’t be scared to talk to their kids about the topic. She compares it to talking to kids about drugs.

Mental health therapist Emily Darlington at Century Health says parents should pay attention to children’s fears and concerns. She adds that you don’t want to lie to your children, but also want to make sure the conversation is age appropriate.

Deputy Kraig Sheets provides area schools with training about what to do in a shooting situation. He tells the newspaper that each school has its own plans. They have to do three exercises per year. Sheets says he teaches students and teachers to get out of a building if they can. If they can’t get out, he tells them to lockdown a classroom and barricade the door.

Hancock County schools are getting help when it comes to blocking classroom doors from intruders. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office is installing “The Boot” at areas schools. The Boot is a metal plate that students or teachers can quickly install to keep a shooter from opening a classroom door. So far Cory-Rawson, Riverdale, and Van Buren schools have the boot. Installation is underway in the Findlay City School district.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office still has to raise about $110,000 to install the device in all classroom and administrative office doors in Hancock County.

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