Senator Kunze Takes Steps to Ensure Student Safety

COLUMBUS—State Senator Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) today provided sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 253 which would revise laws regarding expelling students who make substantive threats of violence. This bill would allow local school boards to adopt a resolution that would enable the superintendent to expel a student for up to one year for communicating a threat or do physical harm to persons or property.

“Keeping our school districts and students safe is a priority for all of us in the Ohio Senate,” said Kunze. “Recently, we have seen an increase in threatened acts of violence in our school buildings throughout the state. These threats disrupt all school activities and place families and communities on edge in the impacted areas.”

Senate Bill 253 would also allow for the school district to require a student to undergo a mental health evaluation as a condition of reinstatement from an expulsion to determine if a mental illness is the underlying cause for threats of violence.