Jarods Law

While I agree that children are vital members of society we must not forget that they still need guidance and education from the senior members of society in order to grow and flourish. I strongly feel that while the passing of Jarod's Law may cause an inconvenience to our school and health department officials, it is a completely necessary move in order to ensure our children's safety. If we cannot protect the youngest members of our society from things like lead poisoning, recalled playground equipment, and access to dangerous materials then what type of society do we live in? I understand that some school districts have seemingly gone overboard with their attempts to correctly implement this new law,however, it seems to me that the great good this Law will provide outweigh the negatives. While funding is certainly an issue, i feel that ensuring our children's safety is a high priority and if financial cuts in other areas must happen in order to schools to make the necessary and often past due upgrades then so be it. We owe it to our children to provide a safe environment in their schools and if this law is what it took for that to happen then i applaud the lawmakers.

As a parent i would expect the school my daughter will attend have procedures in place to ensure that 1. No paint, roofing material, or other sealants or coatings can be applied during occupied periods without exposure control methods 2.School playgrounds and fall zones will be inspected3.Walls and ceiling shall be intact with no water damage, stains, mold, or chipped or peeling paint4.Custodial closets must be inaccessible to unauthorized individuals.5.Schools must appoint a representative to inspect the school on a quarterly basis for dangerous products (from jarod-law.pdf) and the list goes on. These are common sense safety precautions that we, as parents, make sure are practiced in our homes and child care centers. It is common sense to me that schools should be held to the same standards. We owe it to are children to provide them with safe learning environments, no matter what the cost.

“Our drive and determination to pursue safer schools for Ohio children is driven by our belief that Jarrod’s death was completely preventable”, says Jim Bennett, Jarrod Bennett’s dad. “Through working with House Representative Tom Raga, and other legal professionals, we’ve discovered to our surprise that Ohio did not require school safety inspections for grades K-12. Although the dangers of the cafeteria table design which killed Jarrod had been made public for over 10 years by the Federal Governments Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), effective awareness and remediation had not occurred. We believe HB203, Jarrod’s Law, will create a safety inspection program for known dangers, subsequently creating awareness and remediation, and a safer environment for our children to learn.”

We owe it to our children, as the most vulnerable members of our society, to ensure that their health and well being is our number one priority.