Safety legislation is only 1st step, says father of boy killed at school

The boy's father says other states should adopt similar laws.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Jarod Bennett has left a legacy beyond the loving memories shared by his family and friends. The death of the 6-year-old boy killed when a folded school cafeteria table fell on him prompted legislation aimed at preventing similar tragedies.
Jarod's father, Jim Bennett, is grateful that the new requirements for school safety inspections will become Ohio law today, but he says that is only the first step toward improving school safety nationwide.
Recent searches of statutes and bills by the National Conference of State Legislatures found bills pertaining to fire and bus inspections, but none that mirrored Jarod's Law.
"I believe other states need this type of law, and I plan to do whatever I can to make that happen," said, Bennett, of Lebanon, about 25 miles north of Cincinnati. "Although the pain of losing Jarod will be with us forever, it would be much worse if we didn't try to keep this from happening to other children."
What happened
Bennett's son died Dec. 19, 2003, after a 290-pound table being wheeled along by another child tipped over and fractured the boy's skull in the Louisa Wright Elementary School gymnasium in Lebanon. The first-grader was there for an after-school program. His mother, Jennifer Bennett, arrived moments after the accident and cradled her dying son in her arms.
The Bennetts soon began pushing for new school safety inspections and enlisted the support of state Rep. Tom Raga, R-Mason, who introduced House Bill 203.
The Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill referred to as "Jarod's Law" in October. Gov. Bob Taft is scheduled to sign it in Lebanon today, the second anniversary of Jarod's death, before a candlelight march and vigil.
The law will require county health commissioners to take on additional inspection duties. County health commissioners already inspect schools twice a year for disease-causing problems in areas such as food service, heating and air quality, but now inspectors will look for any potential hazards from equipment such as tables, desks and bleachers.
The law will require the Ohio Department of Health to establish minimum inspection standards and procedures and to provide lists of potentially dangerous conditions and products, including items recalled by manufacturers.
Original plan
Raga's original plan would have created a new inspection team, but the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners suggested that county health districts add the inspections to their existing ones.
"We knew we needed to update old rules for our environmental inspections, and this allowed us to do that and to add a new safety piece," said Beth Bickford, the association's executive director.
Inspection costs are expected to stay about the same, said bill supporter Duane Stansbury, Warren County's health commissioner in Lebanon.
"Instead of the current two, we will make one annual inspection, but it will be more extensive," Stansbury said.
Inspectors will report their findings to the school districts and to the state auditor, who will consider the findings when doing school audit reports, ensuring that any problems get fixed or that remedy plans exist.
Lawsuit continues
A lawsuit filed by the Bennetts against the Lebanon City Schools district, the table's manufacturers and the local YMCA that runs the after-school program continues in the courts, but schools spokesman Mike McMurray said the district has no problem with the law.
"We want to do anything we can to enhance safety," he said, adding that the district has removed tables like the one that killed Jarod from its schools.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has had an agreement since 1989 with major manufacturers to provide warning labels about the tip-over hazard of mobile folding tables and the need to keep children from moving or playing with them.
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. improved voluntary standards for the tables to make them more stable, and the commission renewed efforts this year to ensure that manufacturers are providing the warning labels, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said.