Toledo OH must have read my proposal for school safety . . .

[Frogman]

"TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) â€" A rural school district in Ohio is drawing attention with its plans to arm a handful of its non-teaching employees with handguns this year â€" perhaps even janitors.

Four employees in the Montpelier schools have agreed to take a weapons training course and carry their own guns inside the district's one building, which houses 1,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, school officials said.

"It's kind of a sign of the times," Superintendent Jamie Grime said Friday.

The Toledo Blade reported that the employees were janitors, but school officials would not confirm that to The Associated Press, saying only that they are employees who don't have direct supervision over the students in the northwest Ohio district.

The four employees who will carry guns all volunteered to take part, Grime said. The school plans to pay for them to attend a two-day training course.

"Putting a firearm in a school is a huge step," Grime said. "We're going to do it properly. These people need the proper training."

The move comes as districts and lawmakers across the nation weigh how to protect students following the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and after the National Rifle Association called for an armed officer in every U.S. school. The gunman in Newtown used a rifle to kill 20 students and six educators.

Lawmakers in South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri and South Dakota are looking into legislation that would allow teachers and other school employees to have guns.

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst called Friday for state-funded, specialized firearms training for teachers and administrators. School districts would decide who would carry weapons but not be required to participate, and training would include how to react during a shooting.

In Arizona's Maricopa County, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has said he plans to post armed volunteers on school perimeters.

Residents in a Dayton, Ohio, suburb crowded into a school meeting this week to talk about whether staff members and teachers should be armed. Reaction was mixed, according to The Dayton Daily News.

"We need more good guys with guns. That's the sad reality of the situation," said Jim Rigano, a Springboro school board member.

Other states are trying clamp down on gun sales and bans on assault rifles.

In Montpelier, school officials began reviewing security plans after Newtown and decided teachers should not be armed because their first priority in an emergency should be locking doors and protecting students, Grime said. The school already has security cameras and locked doors, and requires visitors to be buzzed into the front entrance.

The proposal was not announced until just before the board voted unanimously Wednesday to arm a select group of employees after consulting with the local police chief and attorneys who reviewed Ohio's concealed carry law. The law prohibits guns in schools except in a few cases, and allows education boards to authorize someone to carry a gun inside schools.

No members of the public spoke out on the measure at the meeting, board President Larry Martin told the Blade. Grime said three people attended.

A letter was sent out to parents after the vote. Only three complained, while close to 150 called or sent emails supporting the idea in Montpelier, a remote city of about 4,000 residents along Interstate 80 near the convergence of Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

"It's a place where people hold the Second Amendment close to their hearts," the superintendent said."


Here is what I proposed . . .

"As a retired school teacher and a current NRA concealed carry instructor I think willing school staff members who are carefully screened and then thoroughly trained in the summer would be most effective.  Administrators, teachers, custodians, who are willing and get the training should be allowed to carry concealed.  They need to be very discrete about it.  No one should know who is carrying and who is not.  The firearm should be required to be carried on the person.  Not in a purse or bag or in the desk where they might be accessed by unauthorized persons.  The training for these people should be very complete, similar to that required by air marshals.  They should be required to be re-evaluated and retrained every summer. 
I know in the small schools where I taught there were two or three staff members who would have been good candidates for this program.  Custodians would be especially good because they move about the building freely and would not seem out of place anywhere in the building.  Teachers spend more time in or close to their classrooms.  But even so if something happens they would probably run toward the gunfire with something more than a book to throw at the shooter.  Right after Columbine I spent a lot of time thinking about this.  The feeling of helplessness the victims would have while a shooter walked through the room executing people is hard to comprehend.  Just one armed staff member could be on the scene much quicker than law enforcement.  If they could save just a few lives it would be worth it. 
The cost would be much less than armed security guards.  The school staff members are already being paid.  I would expect to cover the expense of their training and even their firearm and practice ammo.  And maybe an annual stipend.   
I feel something along these lines would be very effective.  I don't have all the answers, probably haven't even thought of all the questions, but I think this would work!

If you guys can suggest reasons why this wouldn't work then maybe we can come up with a workable plan together?  I'm sure security specialists would be able to fine tune this into something that would be effective and save lives.  Offer some suggestions here??"


I really think two days of training is not enough.  Would prefer more like two weeks at a major training school like Gunsight!  But at least someone is trying it!

Jim