Some teachers at Kingsburg High School, a school near Fresno, have been armed with guns. The policy was announced in April but not put into effect until the start of the new year.
The new security measure in response to active shooters. Licensed, gun owning teachers can volunteer to carry concealed weapons on campus and receive multi-faceted training. The Kingsburg Joint High School board's new policy is aimed at reducing response time in an active shooter situation.
Randy Morris is superintendent of Kingsburg Joint Union High School District and spoke with Take Two's Deepa Fernandes about the policy.
Interview Highlights
What led the Kingsburg school board to approve this policy?
"The discussion probably started about three years ago, in response to school tragedies that were taking place across the country, highlighted of course by Sandy Hook elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. You know, the unfortunate incident that took place in the public sector down in San Bernardino, I think really brought light to some questions the board had about, what do we do in that response time between the 911 call and law enforcement arriving. And so the discussion began first thing first, found out legally what we were able to do and that research found out that while schools are declared gun free zones, Superintendents have the right to grant CCW permit holders permission to carry concealed weapons on campus. And so with that the board decided that we would create a policy to ensure that there were some steps and procedures in place to make sure that we were in the safest position possible..."
The CDC says that less than 2% of youth homicides happen at school. Obviously, there is always the chance, but data seems to squarely point the other way when it comes to kids being killed by guns at a school.
"We're certainly not arguing with any of that data, the only thing we're trying to do is put ourselves in a defendable position, should somebody choose to take grave danger against our kids or our staff."
How have Kingsburg's teachers responded to this new policy?
"The response has been, I think, overwhelmingly supportive. There are folks with questions, you know we started having these conversations last spring and we still have them from time to time. The new shining component of the policy has kind of worn off and has just gained some recent attention since we've got back in school. Our intent is not to convince folks whether it's right or wrong, our intent is just to express our desire to put ourselves in a position to protect our kids given that grave situation."
How is the weapon concealed?
"Well, the anonymity of the individual is a key component to the policy. The policy very clearly states that zero to five staff members at any time to be granted permission to carry a concealed weapon on campus. Those individuals are volunteers, they are not recruited, they obviously have to meet requirements of local and state law enforcement specific to being issued a CCW permit and then there's a series of training requirements and other issues that we evaluate and other things we evaluate before granting permission..."
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
Answers have been edited for clarity.