Ohio media outlet releases name of teacher authorized to go armed at Orrville City Schools

by Chad D. Baus

When Williams Co., Ohio's Montpelier Schools Board of Education made the announcement that they would allow certain employees to carry concealed in the school as a part of their security plans, we noted that the school was not the first school in Ohio to allow certain members of its staff to go armed - rather, they were just the first to announce the decision publicly.

There are even more schools in Ohio that have made the decision to allow armed employees, and some have been doing so well before the horrific attacks in Connecticut.

These schools, however, have made the choice not to release this information about their security plan publicly, to prevent the information from being used against them in a potential attack.

Despite the knowledge of this risk, WEWS's (ABC Cleveland) Dave Arnold is reporting that a public records request has revealed that Orrville City Schools in Ohio's Wayne County has also made the decision to allow an armed employee into the building.

From the article:

When it came to a vote for a school board resolution at last month's Orrville City School board meeting to allow a firearm to be carried by a teacher, it may have set a new national precedent for security measures in schools when it was unanimously agreed upon. But, the district was not seeking publicity, hoping to create an even more secure school situation there, but an Ohio Revised Code spelled out an open records request had to be honored by the district.

Orrville City Schools Superintendent Jon Ritchie said that while it may appear controversial to those with children in other school districts, there was little opposition to it in this Wayne County district, which is about an hour southwest of Cleveland.

Workers are building a brand new Orrville High School. With that in progress, Ritchie said he felt extra measures were needed after 20 students were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut Dec. 14: a school without an available firearm or a school official trained to use one.

"We have state-of-the-art security, but the human element of security is something we clearly wanted to make sure that we addressed," Ritchie said.

The district approached one teacher, whose night job stood out. Bill Yerman, a science teacher, is also employed as a law officer with the nearby Lawrence Township Police Department.

"The fact that Mr. Yerman, being a law enforcement official, we just thought this made perfect sense," Ritchie said.

Ritchie added that Yerman didn't want attention and he turned down all media requests for interviews.

"We approached him, he did not approach us for consideration," Ritchie said.

While making the public aware that there is an armed presence in the school (such as Montpelier schools chose to do) will have a deterrent effect on potential attackers, it is unwise to release information about who is armed. Boaord of Education members at both Montpelier and Orrville school knew this, and judging by the article, WEWS knew it as well - but they chose to publish the information anyways, just as The Toledo Blade decided to report the occupation (but not the name) of some of the persons who will go armed in Montpelier.

In releasing this Orrville math teacher's name, and even showing his photograph in their t.v. coverage, history proves WEWS has made Ritchie a potential target.

In a 2005 spree killing in Red Lake, MN, where a uniformed guard was present at the school, the attacker simply used his stolen gun to ambush the guard first, before bypassing passive security measures such as a chain link fences, metal detector, video cameras and "no-guns" signs.

We have another name for school resource officers: "designated targets."

It will be better for everyone if the potential attacker knows there is an armed presence, but doesn't know where the response would come from if they chose to attack. The release of this person's name by WEWS is the utmost of irresponsibility.

Again, from the article:

Orrville resident Nicole Walker drops her son and twin girls off at school each day. She said she's elated with the Orrville Police Department’s constant visibility surrounding the school, but having someone inside her children's school following the Newtown school tragedy, puts her mind even more at ease.

"I have three of them in the elementary and to have something happen in an elementary school was really scary. It feels safe, it's a good school," Walker said.

Orrville High School junior Stewart Schley had Yerman as a teacher in the past. Schley said Yerman's calm demeanor doesn't worry students. But she does not feel the district should escalate security measures to more armed guards.

"I don't want armed guards at every door. That it makes it seem like a prison. As long as it's one and just for protection," Schley said.

Yerman's unique dual school service position also saves the Orrville school district from hiring security personnel.

"We spent a lot of time looking into this decision. We tried to make sure we took into account all the factors and at the end of the day we weren't interested in this being a news-making item. What we were interested in is doing what's in the best interest of the students entrusted to our care," Ritchie said.

Again, while the public knowledge that certain schools are taking these measures will help give other schools the courage to do so, school officials in Orville understood that publicly naming individuals who will be armed is counter-productive. They informed WEWS's Dave Arnold of this fact, and the station still chose to release the information.

Shame on them.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.