Ohio lawmakers are close to passing a bill that would allow school districts to indefinitely expel a student for threatening or dangerous behavior, including bringing a gun to school, making a bomb threat or writing a hit list.
For 30 years, Sean Brennan taught students at Brecksville-Broadview Heights — where he had a plan in case there was an active shooter.
“We would barricade the door, I take the sledgehammer, I’d knock that window out,” Brennan told me. “I told them you’re just gonna run, run, run as fast as you can to get away from someone that might try to hurt you.”
The aftermath of a shooting can be just as traumatic, he said.
“I don’t know how teachers go on — that lose students after a school shooting or any type of traumatic incident like that,” he said, tearing up.
Right now, public schools in Ohio can only expel students for up to 180 days, or an academic year.
Brennan, also a Democratic state representative from Parma, said allowing a violent student to return after that time raises fears for schools, parents and students.