2/08/2013

Texas: Two more school districts will allow armed teachers in schools

From the Dallas Morning News:
As two small Texas school districts announced during a Senate hearing Monday that they are moving ahead with plans to have armed teachers on campus, the police chief for the Dallas school district cautioned against the practice and said most law enforcement officials agree with him.
The superintendents for the Van school district east of Dallas and the Union Grove district in East Texas told senators they will soon become the second and third districts in the state to authorize teachers with concealed handgun licenses to carry firearms on campus to protect students. . . .
[Don Dunn, superintendent of the Van school district] said his school board approved a policy to use armed teachers for security on the district’s five campuses during a meeting last week. Teachers who are assigned such duties must have a concealed handgun license and will undergo special training to deal with potential threats to children.
“Our parents fully support it,” he said of the new policy, which is allowed under Texas law.
Similarly, Union Grove Superintendent Brian Gray said his district will assign certain school employees at the district’s two campuses to be armed during the school day. Gray said he is working with local law enforcement agencies to develop regulations and training requirements. . . .
Since 2007, Harrold Independent School District in Texas has had armed teachers and they have had no problems. 
In remote Harrold, the nearest sheriff’s office is 30 minutes away, and people tend to know — and trust — one another. So the school board voted to let teachers bring guns to school.
“We don’t have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution,” Superintendent David Thweatt said. “A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible, holstered weapon, but our teachers have master’s degrees, are older and have had extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children.” . . .

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