WacoTrib By SHELLY CONLON 4/28/2018
Two rural school districts in the area are preparing to join 172 other districts in Texas in allowing certain employees to conceal carry firearms on campus, in the wake of a February school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.
Mart Independent School District trustees are considering a policy that would allow the superintendent to appoint specific district employees and board members to carry certain firearms at school and school-related events, as long as they’re properly trained. The district could approve the policy as soon as next month, Interim Superintendent Len Williams said.
And Marlin ISD, in Falls County, recently passed a similar policy as an additional layer of safety to the district’s one-man, armed police department that will start next year, Superintendent Michael Seabolt said.
“If you’ve got people with prior training, it makes sense to look at those people,†Seabolt said. “They have valuable skills and training, and you want to use all the available resources you have within the constraints of a budget.â€
The policies come at a time when a majority of Americans and educators oppose the idea on a national level.
In a March survey of 1,000 teachers nationwide, a month after the Florida shooting, the National Education Association found more than 80 percent of those surveyed stated they would not carry a gun in school, including 63 percent of NEA members who own a gun, the survey stated.
More:
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/education/area-school-districts-consider-options-to-arm-employees/article_53056b8b-206c-5016-bc6e-2284d5f8abbd.html
