Tiny School District To Allow Teachers To Carry Weapons
Posted by Texas Education on August 18, 2008
I worried when I started Texas Education I might not have enough (are you kidding me?) to keep me busy. I’m finding, I can’t keep up with all that is swirling around us, amongst us, on top of us. Some of my scratchings I find through my own research, some I get via emails from friends and colleagues, and some I see on the telly. Well, this particular article I seemed to have found on all three. My timing is a little late, but I’ve been dealing with some new water polo happenings, creating a web page for that, going to office openings, and just a little R&R. But here it is and I must say, a little scary at that. Can you believe??? (I keep finding myself saying more and more, “only in Texas.”) I’m sorry, but I see disaster written all over this. I can’t believe the mindset of some of these individuals. “‘The naysayers think (a shooting) won’t happen here. If something were to happen here, I’d much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK because we were able to protect them,’ Thweatt said.” I don’t see this happening. I see fear, panic, mayhem. I’m sure that is what happens when there is a shooting, but I think this would only exacerbate the problem. Oh, well, what’s done is done. Good luck with that!
HARROLD, Texas — A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported.
Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.
In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.
Superintendent David Thweatt said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff’s office, leaving students and teachers without protection. He said the district’s lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target.
‘When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that’s when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can’t defend themselves? That’s like saying ‘sic ’em’ to a dog,’ Thweatt said in Friday’s online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Thweatt said officials researched the policy and considered other options for about a year before approving the policy change. He said the district also has various other security measures in place to prevent a school shooting.
‘The naysayers think (a shooting) won’t happen here. If something were to happen here, I’d much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK because we were able to protect them,’ Thweatt said.
Texas law outlaws firearms on school campuses ‘unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution.’
It was unclear how many of the 50 or so teachers and staff members will be armed this fall because Thweatt did not disclose that information, to keep it from students or potential attackers. Wilbarger County Sheriff Larry Lee was out of the office Thursday and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment, the newspaper said.
Barbara Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Association of School Boards, said her organization did not know of another district with such a policy. Ken Trump, a Cleveland-based school security expert who advises districts nationwide, including in Texas, said Harrold is the first district with such a policy.
The 110-student district is 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth on the eastern end of Wilbarger County, near the Oklahoma border.
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On the Web:
Harrold Independent School District, http://harroldisd.net/
Texas Education 
Bill Hill said
“Texas Association of Business says that ‘proprietary matters should trump the concerns of people who want to have a loaded gun on their persons at all times.'” “Proprietary matters?” What is that? And what is wrong with someone’s opinion that they have a “want to have a loaded gun on their persons at all times?” Some people take their responsibilities more seriously than others.
I’ve been privately carrying since 1972 when I went into a business and began making night deposits. All these 40 years, I, my family and anyone in close proximity has been safer than if I weren’t carrying.
If we are going to assemble hundreds of our most precious possessions in one place, we absolutely should provide a secure facility AND a well trained, well equiped protector that can stop a determined madman immediately if not within seconds.
The principal of Sandy Hooks Elementary heard the initial gunfire that shattered the exterior glass, she ran out of her office, identified the threat and ran directly towards it but was gunned down before she could get close enough to tackle the shooter. It’s a societal sin that she wasn’t allowed to arm herself enough to not only protect her own life but also the hundreds of children in her charge. Much of society has chosen to leave the schools exposed to madmen simply because of an erroneous phobia of “a gun.”