Arming School Staff

[Unregistered]

It is not helpful at all to get opinions about this issue from school administrators, politicians, emotional parents etc.

Are you completely against the idea of arming school staff ? Think it's a viable solution ? Somewhere in the middle?

Is there a way to make this work? Do you think that so far the Guardianship program is working?

It's unbelievable that the only contributors to the discussion have been those with a political agenda, and not deputies in the community. Your comments would be most valued and appreciated. Thank you.

[Unregistered]

Being a current SRO for the past several years, I understand the thought process of the MSD committee behind this idea. But the reality of the majority of teachers being armed & stopping an active shooter is just not going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, there are some teachers that could, but most cannot. Most teachers do not want to be armed. Teachers teach & law enforcement (if trained properly) can stop an active shooter. The SRO/ sworn law enforcement officer has a dual purpose on campus. They are there to bridge the gap between kids & cops while gaining their respect & trust to hopefully know more about what’s going on in the community & the school campus. The SRO also has the responsibility to stop any threats as well. Also, keep in mind the scenario of an armed teacher trying to stop a shooter when law enforcement arrives. They do not know this is a teacher or a gunmen & the teacher now has the potential to be shot & killed by law enforcement in the heat of the moment. A law enforcement officer in uniform on campus in communication with a dispatcher is a must. We know staffing a school an SRO costs more than an armed teacher or a Guardian but there are other areas to cut costs, not with a child’s safety. No disrespect to anyone, just my opinion with 30 plus years in L. E.
Stay safe.

[Unregistered]

It is not helpful at all to get opinions about this issue from school administrators, politicians, emotional parents etc.

Are you completely against the idea of arming school staff ? Think it's a viable solution ? Somewhere in the middle?

Is there a way to make this work? Do you think that so far the Guardianship program is working?

It's unbelievable that the only contributors to the discussion have been those with a political agenda, and not deputies in the community. Your comments would be most valued and appreciated. Thank you.

There are several issues with arming school staff. They don't have the training to handle or retain the firearm they will be carrying. How often will they actually practice to be proficient with it. They will be accountable for every round fired, are they willing to take on that responsibility. A student wanting to shoot up a school won't have to bring a gun now, they just need to take it from the teacher / staff. You also run the risk of that employee getting shot when law enforcement arrives and sees someone with a gun. These are just a few questions and comments 20 seconds after reading the post.

As for the guardian program, I see this getting out of hand real fast. First of all, these school principals are using them as school security. Telling them to help with this and that and the guardians don't know they can or won't tell the principal NO. So how they're being pulled from their main job, which is to be there in case someone starts shooting. They really should fall under someone with authority over school staff, someone that will tell staff no that's not their job, and not get fired.

[Unregistered]

Thank you for your posts. This is VERY helpful to the process. There is some concern over at Park Trails by parents who are concerned about the actual positioning of firearms on the guardians. There are classrooms with children with impulse control disorders and it is not uncommon for children with autism to have great interest in instruments with moving parts, elevators, escalators, doors, wheels, and yes, guns. It would not be too far fetched for a small child who is incapable of comprehending the issue of safety to impulsively grab for the weapon. Are the safety mechanisms adequate to respond to this type of scenario within enough time? Do the weapons lock into the holster? Can a child release the safety?
There is no way to get real answers to these questions. If you watch the school board meetings, it's a complete circle jerk and there is no information provided. There's lots of talk about options but no detail provided about the specifics of safety in order to make an informed decision.

[Unregistered]

I guess the uniformed officer with communication with dispatch at MSD didn’t work out that well.
Just a thought.

[Unregistered]

There are, I believe, 18 other states that allow teachers to be armed. You are not aware of this because there hasn't been an issue.

Why not allow teachers who are vetted and trained to carry? You trust them with your children? If there was a fire in the classroom, you expect them to use a fire extinguisher. If they were on the playground and a rabid dog was there you would expect them to try and stop it. If the 2 adult Coaches that were killed try to save kids by shielding the kids, I would imagine if he were armed he would have engaged the shooter.

If anything, while locked down in there classroom, they are able to defend against the shooter breaking in.

I am not for all teachers being armed. But if they are willing and able to train and certify, like armed pilots in passenger aircraft, then I'm Okay with it.

[Unregistered]

Someone in the sunsentinel had a good suggestion this morning. Allow school choice for this issue. Have some Broward schools with armed teachers and some without. Then, the parents can choose. Those who are lefties can keep their kids in harms way and blame the NRA if the kids are killed. This would also keep the kids divided by ideology preventing good kids from being influenced by the radical nuts.

[Unregistered]

There are, I believe, 18 other states that allow teachers to be armed. You are not aware of this because there hasn't been an issue.

Why not allow teachers who are vetted and trained to carry? You trust them with your children? If there was a fire in the classroom, you expect them to use a fire extinguisher. If they were on the playground and a rabid dog was there you would expect them to try and stop it. If the 2 adult Coaches that were killed try to save kids by shielding the kids, I would imagine if he were armed he would have engaged the shooter.

If anything, while locked down in there classroom, they are able to defend against the shooter breaking in.

I am not for all teachers being armed. But if they are willing and able to train and certify, like armed pilots in passenger aircraft, then I'm Okay with it.

Thank you.

[Unregistered]

Not all teachers are equipped psychologically to handle the stress. But as we learned, neither are all cops. You had two staff members who were more mentally equipped than the 8 responding BSO deputies. I think if those 2 staff members were armed, the situation would have ended completely differently.

If there are school staff members who want to be armed, require them to go to the same training as LEOs do. require them to requalify every year the same as LEOs do.

I would take it a step further. I would pay staff members a stipend to become auxiliary police officers. Make them psych, poly, FTO and everything (in the summer). They wouldn't possess arrest powers as an auxiliary LEO (opposed to going through the full academy and being part-time LEOs). They would to be considered "on duty" during any school function.

This could be done by the county sheriffs or FHP or even each school board PD.

If 2-5 school staff members at every school (there are approx 30-50 staff members) at every school in the county.

[Unregistered]

For the vetting it's critical to carefully examine the mental health of whomever is interested. A teacher who proves to be a good shot is dangerous if they're a reckless kook.
Rather than go to this extreme, a better idea would be to rotate DOD deputies in the schools. They have experience at managing housing units and would probably do a good job at keeping the middle and high schools under control. When the school fights start, just call a classroom lock down. It's discipline and structure that's lacking in the schools. The parents need to agree that the public schools need to be more militant to be safe. Think about it, aside from perimeter and scanner, the housing units are manageable with the worst population because of structure and expectations. There's no reason not to implement something similar in the schools.