(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today reminded Ohio school officials to make sure each school building's floor plan and safety plan is up-to-date and filed, as required by law.
State law (ORC 3313.536) requires each of Ohio's 4,356 school facilities to file a copy of both floor plans and safety plans with the Attorney General's Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and update them at least every three years or sooner, if changes occur. BCI enters that information into the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OHLEG) system, which any Ohio law enforcement officer can access quickly. And that information can be lifesaving.
"Ninety-two percent of Ohio's schools have filed plans with our office as they are required to do. I urge those that have not filed plans to do so without delay," said Attorney General DeWine. "Chardon High School had filed plans with our office as required. Local law enforcement did not need to utilize the floor plan information in their response to Monday's tragedy. But students and staff certainly did carry out the safety plan, which they had practiced, and they did that very quickly."
Out of 4,356 school facilities across Ohio, 383 have not filed plans with BCI.
School safety plans may be sent by e-mail to SchoolPlans@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov. Hard copies of the plans may be mailed to the Attorney General's office at:
School Digitization Project
The Ohio Attorney General's Office
150 East Gay Street, 18th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
"We hope and pray that we will never have another incident like the one this week at Chardon High School. However, we need to help make sure we are as prepared as possible to respond," added DeWine.
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