CHESTERLAND, Ohio — Last week, an 18-year-old West Geauga High School student was arrested after allegedly bringing a gun to school with the intent of shooting multiple students.
In a letter sent to parents and guardians on Tuesday, West Geauga Local Schools superintendent Dr. Rich Markwardt laid out the district's plans for increasing safety following last week's incident.
"Over the last several months, the West Geauga School District has been in conversations with the Chester Police Department to explore ways in which we can expand the School Resource Officer presence in our school buildings," Markwardt wrote. "That will include a more visible police presence, enhanced school safety plans, and safety-related training for staff and students."
He also added that the West G Board of Education plans to expedite the process of purchasing necessary repairs and equipment following an outage of the public address system and phone system issues at the middle school and high school on the morning of the incident, April 3. The board officially approved the new system during Tuesday night's meeting.
The gun was discovered when a student at the school noticed a bullet in the boys' restroom and alerted the school resource officer. The officer and school officials then reviewed security footage and interviewed students, with 18-year-old Brandon Morisette arrested and charged with the following:
- Attempted aggravated murder
- Inducing panic
- Illegal possession of deadly weapon in school safety zone
Morisette is alleged to have had plans to harm multiple students in the school.
"What happened last Monday was a very frightening event," Markwardt wrote. "Equally as frightening as the hour between the discovery of the bullet during first period and the arrest of the student during second period, is contemplating what could have happened if the gunman had been able to execute his plans. As a parent and grandparent, these thoughts are terrifying."
Markwardt said that in an effort to address and alleviate such fears, the school district has multiple supports in place for students and staff, including five regular school counselors, three full-time school psychologists, a social worker and a strong community partnership with Ravenwood Health. He also added that the district has spent more than $1.3 million on security enhancements in the last five years.
"All help to keep our buildings' inhabitants safe, but the events of last week indicate that our work is never done. This work is and will continue to be our priority," he wrote.
Other safety measures the district has enacted include:
- Backpacks must be stored in lockers at all times, with students only being allowed to carry clear backpacks between classes if given a medical waiver.
- Musical instruments must be stored in either lockers or the band room.
- Coats cannot be worn in school and must be stored in lockers.