Local schools talk security policies

When President Donald Trump suggested last week that arming teachers was a possible solution to school violence, conversations began across the country on if and how that could be implemented.

What many don’t know is what kind of access Texas and Arkansas teachers have to guns, inside and outside the classroom.

TEXAS

Texas has the school marshal program via House Bill 1009, passed during the 83rd session of the Texas Legislature. It allows designated district staff, including teachers, to have all the power of a law enforcement officer, including carrying a weapon and making arrests. The marshal also undergoes the same training as law enforcement and is designated by district’s school board.

Texarkana school districts do not have school marshals, as Liberty-Eylau and Texarkana independent school districts have their own police departments, and Pleasant Grove ISD has a school resource officer who is a member of the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department.

While the districts have not used this option, area superintendents say it will not be ruled out in the future.

“We’re not saying we never will, but we do not have a school marshal at TISD,” Superintendent Paul Norton said.

“I think it’s something you constantly evaluate—procedures, protocol, what we think will best keep our students and staff safe,” he said. “If we feel like that’s what we need, then we would obviously consider school marshals in that process, but I don’t know that there would actually be something that would trigger something like that.”

As for arming teachers, all

the district leaders said teachers are there to educate and should be able to focus on just that.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, just because your teachers are in a teaching mode, caring for the kids,” L-EISD Superintendent Ronnie Thompson said. “They’re in front of the classroom. That’s what they’re there to do. I don’t think they can shift gears and be in a active shooter-type mode and then have to leave their class and leave those kids there if they have to respond to an active shooter.”

The marshals also would not have immediate access to a weapon, as it must remain locked up in a secure place and not on their person.

“If they can’t carry it on them and it has to be in a locked safe, it doesn’t seem real practical,” Thompson said.

“In a practical situation, it would seem better if you have some support staff identified as school marshal,” Norton said. “If there was a situation, you’d want that teacher taking care of the students in his or her classroom.”

Dr. Jason Smith, PGISD superintendent, said he had been talking with those in his district about putting guns in the hands of teachers and that the responses were varied.

“I wanted to get a good feel of what our community felt about that,” he said. “We all had a heavy heart about the Florida incident, so we threw out a survey. One of the questions was, ‘ How do you feel about teachers having guns on campus?’”

The feedback showed people were on opposite ends of the spectrum, he said:

“Some thought it was great, and some thought it was horrible. For the same reason, our first responsibility is taking care of the students we’re responsible for and not leaving them. Their first objective is to educate kids.”

Smith added that the majority of those he polled did support someone in an administrative role carrying a firearm.

Liberty- Eylau High School’s leadership class held an open discussion with administrators not long after the shooting.

“It was more about preventative on their end, on how they can help to prevent those students who want to come in with a gun and how they can be more open to those kids and reach out,” Thompson said.

L-EISD Police Chief Bart Veal said the students had a very good idea of what part they could play in preventing a tragedy like the one in Florida.

“They were impressively aware of what they can do and how they can do it,” he said. “They were right on point with that.”

Students have many avenues to report suspicious behavior, including each district’s website. Schools are mandated by state law to have a link on the website to report bullying anonymously. Leaders say if students aren’t comfortable talking with a teacher, counselor, principal or police officer, this is a good way for them to communicate.

“I think the best defense against something like this is relationships,” Norton said.

Each district has evaluated their safety plans following the Florida shooting. TISD’s Risk Management department has been looking at the district’s crisis management plan, Norton added.

“Any type of safety document is a living document. If things happen, then you evaluate. If there’s a bus wreck, we evaluate,” he said. “Obviously, when something happens like what happened in Parkland, we evaluate what we would do in a situation like that. We look at how … we prevent these things from happening.”

ARKANSAS

While Arkansas does not have a school marshal program, some districts do have armed teachers in the classroom, including Clarksville School District.

Dr. David Hopkins, Clarksville superintendent, initiated the program in 2013 after the Sandy Hook shootings. There, teachers, janitors, administration and staff members are trained as armed guards.

Texarkana, Ark., School District relies on a state-certified security force for protection.

“( Clarksville) knows they have staff who are concealed,” TASD Superintendent Dr. Becky Kesler said. “That’s a difference with us. Our security is not concealed. You can see they are carrying a gun.”

The security officers do not have arrest powers and will call the local police department if that action is needed, Kesler said.

Texarkana, Ark., Police Chief Bob Harrison said more could have been done to prevent the Parkland shooting, including more police action.

“I think all of us have been concerned with what happened in Parkland, Fla., and we saw where law enforcement dropped the ball not once, but numerous times,” he said. “The FBI dropped the ball in passing information on, in passing to the Miami field office and the county sheriff’s office. They were called out to this individual’s home more than 20 times. There were red flags, red flags, red flags that they did not act upon.”

Harrison said that, after he reviewed the incident, he realized how his department could work to prevent something like that from happening in Texarkana, Ark.

“We reviewed the first things we need to do and centralize complaints and intelligence information,” he said. Beginning next week, that will be done by the department’s new threat assessment and intelligence officer.

TAPD had two commissioned positions frozen for fiscal year 2018, and per Harrison’s request, City Manager Kenny Haskin unfroze one so this position could be created.

“If one of the security officers says he’s got an individual and he’s talking about threats, it will go to the intelligence analyst police officer, and they will start researching this individual on social media, talking to counselors in schools, talk with parents and, if necessary, search the home for weapons and explosive devices. Until we looked at doing this, we could have received a complaint that would fall through the cracks. We think that’s where we were vulnerable.”

The officer will not only gather information from school districts, they will also interact with the community, clergy and monitor social media.

Kesler commented that it was a quick turnaround for the department to create the position.

“We found it exceptionally necessary, and we’re trying to do something on the front end before the call comes in there are shots fired,” Harrison said. “We can identify these people, find out what they’re up to and if they have a problem. We’ll remove them from the environment they’re in, incarcerate them until we can get them some help or whatever it takes to keep them from doing a Florida situation.”

TASD also released a safety letter last week on its Facebook page, stating the district is collaborating with TAPD’s See Something, Say Something campaign. The letter stated that all campuses have controlled access and cameras and that students participate in active-shooter drills, with additional training coming soon.

Kesler said students should report supicious behavior to someone at their school or put a note in one of the bullying boxes provided at some of the schools. The district has also created the myvoice@tasd7.net email for those who wish to report incidents or concerns.

Kesler said she has had some staff members ask if they could carry a concealed weapon, but that is not in place in their district. All district employees with a concealed carry license are allowed to have a firearm locked in their car. This applies in Texas, as well.

Harrison said he supports those who wish to be armed but that it should be a choice, not a mandate.

“I will say I am against all teachers being forced to be armed. I don’t think that will work,” he said. He added that he would not be opposed to districts making use of those with an interest in carrying a firearm, someone who is former military or a hunter.

“I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to that, and I wouldn’t be opposed to us teaching those individuals, but I think they’re going to be few and far between,” he said.