Schools

Student Safety is 'First Priority,' Superintendent Says

Lampert believes Strongsville schools are prepared to handle crisis

Strongsville Schools are prepared to handle a crisis if it occurs here, Superintendent Jeff Lampert said.

Lampert, speaking at a School Board work session Thursday night, said the district has a crisis plan in place and practices lockdown drills at the schools.

"I have the utmost confidence in all of our staff to implement  . . . that plan," he said.

Find out what's happening in Strongsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

School officials started the meeting with a moment of silence to recognize the , where three students died after a 17-year-old opened fire in the cafeteria.

Lampert said he works with Police Chief Charles Goss on safety issues, and met with in this week to discuss how the Chardon shootings might impact Strongsville schools.

Find out what's happening in Strongsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To that end, a Tuesday after allegedly spreading a rumor on Facebook that a 19-year-old North Royalton man was planning to come to the school to beat up a female Strongsville student.

The 17-year-old was charged with inducing panic for spreading a rumor with no basis in fact.

The 19-year-old from North Royalton was arrested and charged with aggravated menacing for allegedly making a threat -- by phone -- to the female student.

Goss said the girl and the 19-year-old got into a heated discussion on Facebook about the shootings at Chardon, leading to the phone call and threat. The 17-year-old heard about it and posted a rumor about the violence taking place at .

Lampert said the district has no tolerance for that type of thing.

"Student safety is, without a doubt, our first priority," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Strongsville