A task force looking at the safety of Stow schools and public buildings is seeking input through a survey.
Responses will be confidential, and participants will not be asked to provide email addresses or other identifying information. A link to the survey is located on the home page of the City of Stow website at www.stow.oh.us.
“I feel very strongly that this is a local issue that takes a local solution,” Mayor Sara Drew said at the recent first meeting of the safety task force.
The group is tasked with investigating ways to enhance security in Stow-Munroe Falls schools and other public areas of the city and will present recommendations to council and the community by March 31.
“The community has rightfully and clearly stated that the issue of security in our schools and other public buildings is of great concern,” Drew said in a news release. “The Mayoral Task Force has a multidisciplinary approach and cross-representation of stakeholders working toward identifying solutions and how to implement them.”
Drew said the need to form the task force stemmed from the recent shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., where 20 students and six teachers were fatally shot.
“It was not very different from Stow, and very similar in size,” Drew said.
As of the 2010 census, the population of Newtown was 27,560 to Stow’s 34,837.
“As a mother of a daughter at Kimpton Middle School, I also have a stake in this,” Drew said.
The task force’s members are: schools Superintendent Russ Jones, Stow High School Principal Chris DiMauro, Stow Police Chief Lou Dirker, Munroe Falls Police Chief Rick Meyer, Munroe Falls Mayor Frank Larson, Summit County Juvenile Court Child Responsibility Supervisor Steve Stahl, University of Akron professor Dave Licate, Stow Councilman Brian D’Antonio, Stow Law Director Brian Reali and Stow Finance Director John Baranek.
The task force’s next meeting will be 5 p.m. Thursday in council chambers at Stow City Hall.
