Consensus lacking on school security

With no agreement on ideas to consider, senator’s call for extra session voted down

Spending money is one thing. Fixing a problem is another.

State legislators were at odds Thursday after hearing wildly different ideas from police, educators and mental health professionals on how to make schools safer in an era of heightened concern about campus shootings.

The Legislative Finance Committee overwhelmingly voted down a proposal by state Sen. George Muñoz to convene an extraordinary session this summer to take up the issue of school security. While the Gallup Democrat argued lawmakers must act urgently to prevent future shootings such as the killing of 17 people at a Florida high school last month, other legislators pointed out that no one seemed to have a clear idea of exactly what laws the state should enact.

The indecision over exactly what policymakers should do next to reduce school shootings contrasted with the Legislature’s widespread and bipartisan support for allocating $40 million for campus safety measures earlier this year. That money could pay for door locks, cameras and fences.

But the discussion Thursday signaled how hard it might be for legislators to go beyond providing money and implementing concrete policies.

Some lawmakers called for toughening the penalties for making a threat against a school. Others suggested making it easier for retired police officers to go back to work as armed security personnel on campuses.

But there was no consensus or one issue that legislators could rally behind.

The state’s top mental health official submitted a presentation that recommended addressing school shootings as a matter of public health and highlighted a slew of gun control ideas.

“We sit around and we talk. We are reactive, not proactive,” said Muñoz, who is running for commissioner of public lands in the June primary election.

But Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, seemed to echo several other lawmakers on the influential committee when he cautioned against convening an extraordinary legislative session with little idea of what policies lawmakers would consider.

“I want to know what the plan is and how much it’s going to cost and how we’re going to pay for it,” Smith said.

In addition, an extra legislative session would cost more than $50,000 a day.

The committee voted instead to call for a task force to recommend policies that could improve school security.

Educators and others offered plenty of ideas Thursday. Still, many argued that security improvements on campuses, such as installing video cameras, would only do so much to prevent a shooting.

Stan Rounds, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders, described building fences and improving locks to control access to school campuses as a “good first deterrent.”

But Kirk Carpenter, superintendent of the Aztec Municipal School District, where two high school students died in a shooting in December, called for funding armed security guards on campuses.

Carpenter said he opposes arming teachers but suggested changing policies to allow retired law enforcement officers to return to work without adversely affecting their pensions. He said this could free up a pool of qualified personnel to provide added security.

Both ideas have proven controversial. Some civil rights groups contend that adding more armed police to schools will not necessarily make students safer, and many lawmakers say changing retirement policies would strain pension plans.

Meanwhile, a report by the Legislative Finance Committee noted that few measures to improve physical security at schools have been evaluated and deemed effective, leaving experts cautioning against knee-jerk decisions in addressing an issue that is not well-understood. Indeed, homicide data indicate that schools remain among the safest places for children.

Measures such as security cameras and metal detectors might deter students from bringing guns to school but cannot prevent all school shootings, the committee’s report noted. And some research has shown that these measures can compromise the psychological wellbeing of students.

The Legislative Finance Committee’s report found most New Mexico schools already had installed security cameras and fencing as of the 2013-14 school year.

Relatively few schools use metal detectors, according to the committee’s report. It noted, however, that the cost of buying such machines is low compared to the price of providing staff to run the metal detectors and securing every entrance to a campus.

The report also said there are several examples of fatal shootings at schools where metal detectors had been installed. And some studies have found schools with metal detectors also have more crime and higher levels of disorder.

But a cottage industry of sorts has sprouted amid the heightened attention given to school shootings nationally, marketing to educators all manner of equipment and materials that might not do much to prevent the next tragedy.

Some say the most practical steps could be the easiest for lawmakers to accept, such as more training and drills, as well as better planning with local law enforcement.

Meanwhile, Wayne Lindstrom, director of the state’s Behavioral Health Services Division, submitted a slideshow presentation to the committee that suggested looking at school shootings as a public health concern. It outlined gun control measures, such as limiting access to high-capacity magazines and “assault-style weapons,” as well as expanding background checks.

The presentation also offered a critique of what it described as the tendency to “harden” schools after a shooting — “making them defensive fortresses in an attempt to make students safer.”

“What is more effective, but requires much more effort, is to ‘soften’ the school environment,” the presentation said, suggesting measures such as addressing bullying and providing better behavioral health services for students.

The presentation stood out for even broaching the subject of gun control after years of deadlock on the issue.

Lindstrom, who did not address the committee in person, later said the presentation was meant to give legislators an idea of policies supported by some medical groups such as the American Pediatric Surgical Association. He said it did not represent the position of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration — which would have indeed been a remarkable shift.

Muñoz did not immediately give up on the idea of a extraordinary legislative session and argued that lawmakers should meet before the next school year begins.

When asked whether an extraordinary session should include gun control measures, Muñoz — who received a 100 percent rating from the NRA in 2016 — said “everything has to be on the table.”

While the governor can call the Legislature into a special session, lawmakers can convene what is known as an extraordinary session. To do so, they would need authorization from three-fifths of the members in both the Senate and state House of Representatives.

The Legislature has not convened an extraordinary session since 2002, when it overrode then-Gov. Gary Johnson’s veto of the state budget.

Contact Andrew Oxford at 505-9863093 or aoxford@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @andrewboxford.