Allow teachers to be armed

In the State of Florida a pending bill to allow teachers to be armed is on its way to the Governor. By now it may even have been signed.

This May 2, 2019 article on www.npr.org reports that both the Florida Senate and the Florida House passed it. Only Florida Governor Ron DeSantis needs to sign it.

In February 2018 I addressed the Richland 2 School Board on school safety and asked for a survey of parents, teachers, staff and community members on the issue of allowing teachers to be armed.

Notice the phrasing of my request. It was for a survey.

I think the temperature in the room dropped about 30º. During the second public participation segment two parents spoke and said they did not want guns in the schools.

Had I asked for guns in the school?

No one from the District responded.

At the next meeting I suggested that the District apply for a grant from the NRA School Shield Program. Again no response from the District - until I emailed then then-Board Chair, Craig Plank, and about five minutes later Supt. Davis called to tell me the District would not apply for the grant. It was looking at other sources.

I wondered, "How did he get a consensus from the Board so quickly on a decision whether to apply for such a grant?" I hadn't heard any mention during the board meeting to delegate a decision on such an important item to the superintendent.

My guess was that the only reason the District would not apply for the School Shield Program grant was that it was offered by the NRA. May I suggest that you read just what the School Shield Program is?

I'll tell you what it is not. It is not a program designed to put guns in every school. The grants providing funding for schools to address "... the many facets of school security, including best practices in security infrastructure, technology, personnel, training, and policy."

Do you see "put a gun in every classroom" there? Nope.

Personally, I favor allowing teachers to be armed. Not for the purpose of being additional police in the school, but in the event of an active shooter situation.

If some scumbag is trying to break into a barricaded classroom to harm the students and all the student are hiding behind the teacher, why shouldn't a teacher have a chance to defend them and himself?