GENTRY -- Allowing some teachers and staff to be armed on campus is a topic which the school board will, at some point, need to consider, according to Terrie Metz, superintendent of Gentry Public Schools.
Metz, at the Aug. 20 school board meeting, asked board members to review a news article shared with her regarding the Berryville School District deciding to participate in a school security officer program in which both classified and certified district employees may serve as members of the school district's security force and be armed after specialized training. According to information provided, up to 12 school employees could be trained and serve in the security officer program.
Before moving forward with the program, the Berryville School District surveyed its teachers and staff and found that 65 percent were comfortable with the idea and 20 percent were interested in serving as armed security, according to Owen Powell, Berryville's superintendent of schools.
According to the article provided by Metz to the board, the Berryville District consulted with Scott Lewis of School Training Services, a company which trains school staff members to serve as security officers. Lewis told the district arming teachers and staff members was not the right answer for every school district and was not something every teacher would be capable to do.
According to Lewis, the program would not necessarily prevent tragedies such as school shootings but could "mitigate the damage" by ending the threat in a shorter time period when every second can make a difference. In the program, school security officers are taught to respond to the sound of gunfire and "eliminate the threat."
Lewis said his company, if hired, reserves the right to reject teachers and staff members it deems unfit for the responsibility. His company provides 60 hours of intense training, with those completing the course receiving both a concealed-carry permit and an enhanced concealed-carry permit.
In addition to the initial 60 hours of training, his company requires another 24 hours of training each year, one year as a refresher and the next to be recertified.
In the Clarksville School District, approximately 22 teachers are serving as armed security personnel, according to Lewis. He said his company has been hired by six school districts.
Those serving as security officers are required to carry concealed. In some cases, such as kindergarten teachers who are often down on the floor with their students, the firearm would be locked in a safe behind a locked door, Lewis said. In other cases, the gun would be concealed on the teacher's or administrator's person, under clothing.
The names of those authorized to serve as school security officers are not normally publicized but sometimes word gets out, according to the materials presented to the board.
Arming teachers and school staff also requires a close working relationship with local police and training in how to respond when officers arrive at the school in response to a school shooting or other incident, according to Lewis.
Gentry Police Department currently employs one full-time and one part-time school resource officer devoted to security at the school district's four campuses, but other officers also include foot patrol of the schools in their everyday patrol schedules to increase police presence on all the campuses.
Should the Gentry School District consider arming teachers and staff as security guards, many questions would need to be considered and a training agency such as School Training Services would likely be hired.
For now, the school board has been asked to look at the question, realizing it's not an issue the school district wishes was necessary to consider but knowing the times may demand it.
To see the full email shared with the board, visit www.gentrypioneers.com and click on the School Board Materials link and view items from the August meeting in the FY19 folder.
General News on 08/29/2018