Survey: Most parents, staff believe armed personnel would make schools safer

Posted 1/25/18

That’s according to a recent Park County School District No. 1 survey that drew responses from roughly 190 employees — more than half of the district’s 350 staffers.

“I was quite astounded by the responses,” said Jay Curtis, …

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Survey: Most parents, staff believe armed personnel would make schools safer

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If Powell schools were to allow trained staff to carry concealed guns, 40 employees say they would apply, and another 48 say “maybe.”

That’s according to a recent Park County School District No. 1 survey that drew responses from roughly 190 employees — more than half of the district’s 350 staffers.

“I was quite astounded by the responses,” said Jay Curtis, superintendent of the district.

Surveys of the Powell community, parents and staff showed that most respondents — roughly two out of three — believe armed staff would make school buildings safer.

But the school board isn’t rushing into any decisions on a weapons policy.

“We will not be making any decisions tonight, as this is a discussion item at this point, and it’s way too important to rush and make a decision one way or another,” said Greg Borcher, chairman of the Powell school board, on Tuesday. If the board were to eventually adopt a policy, one of the many questions it would have to answer is which staffers — and how many — would be allowed to carry a weapon.

Tuesday’s regular meeting marked the first time the board publicly discussed the issue since the Wyoming Legislature cleared the way for trained school employees to carry concealed firearms last year.

Much of the meeting focused on existing security measures, active shooter response training already underway in Powell schools and the survey results.

Out of 634 responses from the community, 446 came from parents. Curtis said the results only included people who said they lived within the boundaries of the Powell school district.

The vast majority of parents — 74.6 percent — said having armed staff that receive annual training would make school buildings safer. By comparison, 15.7 percent of parents said armed staff would make schools less safe, while 9.7 percent said there would be no effect on school safety.

Overall, nearly 67 percent of community members — including parents, students and members of the general public — and almost 64 percent of school employees said they believe armed staff would make schools more safe.

“I found that interesting, particularly in light of similar surveys done in other counties around Wyoming that were exactly opposite of that,”  Curtis said.

During Tuesday’s meeting, school board members also asked hard questions about allowing guns in schools, such as: Could an employee pull the trigger when they needed to?

“Until you’re put in those situations, and you have that stress level come up ... you don’t know,” said Jason Pellegrino, school resource officer with the Powell Police Department.

“Not everyone is willing to pull the trigger,” Pellegrino said, adding, “I think some people carry a gun because it’s a comfort thing. It gives them some personal peace.”

He said there can be a perception of security versus true security. It takes the right people with the right mindset and right training, Pellegrino said.

State law requires a minimum of 16 hours of training for school employees to carry firearms, and Borcher asked if that’s an adequate amount.

“I would say that’s just 16 hours of shooting at a target — that’s not any kind of psychological stuff or situational training and adding the adrenaline ... there’s just so many aspects,” said Pellegrino.

He said the right person would be doing hundreds of hours of training on top of the required 16 hours.

“In our world, we’re surrounded by people that we completely, 100 percent fully trust carrying a weapon and using a weapon,” said Andy MaGill, a Park County Sheriff’s deputy and safety manager for the school district. “Sixteen hours shooting at paper, I don’t think covers that.”

MaGill said that’s not to say his viewpoint is against having guns in schools.

“That’s just saying that if there is someone that’s going to be carrying, I think they would have to hold the same type of standards that law enforcement would have to hold,” he said.

Pellegrino said he appreciates that the school district is taking it slow and thinking about every piece of a policy.

Borcher asked how long it would take Powell police to get to a local school, and Pellegrino said about two minutes from the time they get the call, but it depends on the circumstances.

Superintendent Curtis said it would take additional time to get into the building, assess the situation and find the shooter.

“Five minutes in a school building is an eternity. Sandy Hook lasted nine or 11 minutes, something like that, and almost 30 people were killed,” Curtis said. “That’s why we’re doing the things we’re doing now, and that’s why we’re having the discussion.”

Two students were killed and 18 injured at a small Kentucky school on Tuesday when a student opened fire, according to media reports.

Curtis said the Powell school district has a wonderful partnership with the Powell Police and Park County Sheriff’s departments. In addition to Pellegrino being in schools daily, other officers regularly stop by, and he said the police presence is “a tremendous asset and a tremendous deterrent.”

Chairman Borcher also asked about law enforcement response time in the Clark area.

“My biggest concern in all of this is our [elementary] school out in Clark,” Borcher said.

“It’s pretty far away,” MaGill said.

He said he goes to the Clark school area more often, but said a deputy could be clear on the other side of the county when a call comes in from Clark.

Security measures in place

For decades, schools have gone into lockdown when confronted with a threat.

“What we’ve been taught since early on is go and hide, and it just doesn’t cut it. Doing that, you’re just a sitting duck,” MaGill said.

Lockdown should not be a sole response to an active shooter, Pellegrino said.

For the Powell school district, a variety of security measures — years in the making — are coming together. One of those is ALICE training, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. Employees throughout the school district are undergoing ALICE training, and eventually, Powell students also will be taught age-appropriate training through the program.

The training empowers people to make decisions about how to react, Curtis said.

“Instead of just sitting there, this gives us a chance to fight back,” said Jim Kuhn, PHS principal.

Every Powell school now has a secure vestibule that visitors must enter before entering the building during school hours; other entrances are locked.

Schools started using a new electronic check-in system for visitors last week that immediately alerts Pellegrino and administrators when someone who should not be there signs into the system. The district also replaced doors and locks that were not as secure, said Rob McCray, support services coordinator.

“The over-arching goal is to have one point of entry,” Curtis said. “For the most part, someone who is not a student or staff member, they have to go through a screening process.”

Every Powell police officer has a key card allowing them to get into any school facility and cameras allow administrators to look inside or outside any school, McCray said.

The district also has new emergency response guides, modeled after Northwest College’s.

The board did not take public comments during Tuesday’s meeting. As the Powell school board continues discussing school safety and the weapons policy in future months, there will be opportunities for public input, chairman Borcher said.

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