School Safety: To Plan, or Not to Plan.........

This is one of the best blog posts I've read in quite awhile. It goes to the heart of so many issues faced in (not by - IN) our educational community and what it's going to take in order to help address the problems therein - from how to teach AP History to how students can actually help themselves by questioning everything. Bullying, communications, interactions, EVERYthing!

A MUST read, IMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

affectiveliving.wordpress.com/2014/03/08...really-need-to-hear/

As George Carlin so famously said:

Another one of those "Oh...My...Gawd..." moments. Why hasn't someone thought of this previously? I mean, really...why not?

What a novel idea - use your emergency procedures to address a potential threat - until it either is or is not a viable threat...

aattp.org/watch-father-open-carries-gun-...nteresting-solution/

Yep, gotta be good Liberals and train to be victims. Can't support parents, teachers or anyone that wants to protect themselves and others. Always depend on others to defend you, and remember, responsibility means you can't just blame others when things go bad.

HEARTLESS wrote: Yep, gotta be good Liberals and train to be victims. Can't support parents, teachers or anyone that wants to protect themselves and others. Always depend on others to defend you, and remember, responsibility means you can't just blame others when things go bad.

Well, Heartless, I was wondering how long it might take for a gun rights supporter to weigh in on this thread. And here you are.....

In response, I will say the Standard Response Protocols that the I Love U Guys Foundation promotes and has had phenomenal success with both nationally and internationally is a perfect way in which to address these kinds of security issues for school safety.

The school in Michigan implementing its emergency procedures is actually a perfect response to a very difficult situation they, and schools across the country, have been placed in, i.e.: how to effectively address the Gun Free Zone issue (they could actually be eliminated if the lockdown procedure is used) to allow those parents who wish to open or concealed carry on their kid's school campus to "protect and to serve".

It's a win-win because Second Amendment rights will not be infringed upon- the result of a 911 call to the Police will settle that, the kids will be safe regardless of the outcome of the 911 call, and the parent, or whomever is carrying, will be processed through a threat assessment that far too many schools do not do effectively right now.

It will also, by its very nature, require that parents wishing to conceal or open carry work with the school beforehand to let them know who they are, that they are legally permitted to carry (open or concealed), and that they fully intend to carry on campus. Same for teachers, admins, and other school personnel.

Edited to add: This process would also serve to protect the anonymity of concealed carry parents because, again, the school would know who they are and that they do not represent a viable threat to the school.

I'd even go one step further in using this procedure. I'd encourage schools to first do a "Lock-out" if they've done their appropriate threat assessment and have determined an unknown person/persons represent(s) a viable threat to the school. If the identified threat "breaks through" the outer barriers, as did the perp at Sandy Hook Elementary School, then a "lockdown" is an appropriate action to take.

I believe the point of what this school in Michigan is doing is in response to a very difficult to solve planning issue, i.e.: how to respect the rights of those wishing to open or concealed carry to do so while also recognizing they must have emergency procedures established and in-place to be able to effectively address those situations in which they have no way of knowing beforehand if someone carrying on their campus represents a viable threat or not.

Along with rights come responsibilities. If parents want to carry on their kids campuses, they must then also recognize and accept that the school has no way of knowing those parents represent no threat to the school or to the safety of the kids they've been entrusted with. Schools are required to design, develop, and implement emergency procedures according to their emergency plan. To many, someone carrying on a school campus may or may not represent a viable threat. How are they supposed to know unless the person carrying has worked with the school beforehand and gone through whatever procedures it might take to allow it to happen?

500+ teachers took advantage of the free concealed carry class for educators at Centennial Gun Club. In attendance was Samantha Schuller, now a first grade teacher and previously a student held hostage at Platte Canyon High School on 9/27/2006. A brief video can be seen on channel 7 News.
I believe properly trained school staff can provide far better defense of self and students, than attempting to make our schools into a fortress.

This is the link to that video.

HEARTLESS wrote: 500+ teachers took advantage of the free concealed carry class for educators at Centennial Gun Club. In attendance was Samantha Schuller, now a first grade teacher and previously a student held hostage at Platte Canyon High School on 9/27/2006. A brief video can be seen on channel 7 News.
I believe properly trained school staff can provide far better defense of self and students, than attempting to make our schools into a fortress.

This begs a couple of questions:

First, do you also consider the single concealed carry class in this story to be "adequate" training for school staff?

Second, I'm not aware of any of my posts advocating "attempting to make our schools into a fortress". That's one of the singular issues that came up immediately following the tragedy at Columbine High School. The students I spoke with almost universally agreed that was not the way to go. By arming staff (and I'm not advocating for or against in this question - I'm merely asking), could it also be construed having more people armed on campus means turning the school into a "fortress", only of a different stripe than most would consider it to be?

Z,the answer to your first question is, not in my opinion. More training in conjunction with and overseen by local law enforcement then being issued limited deputy status (school only).
Regarding the second question, I'm sorry to post in your private echo chamber without your consent. Where did I address you, hint it starts with Z or ZHawke, about making an in quotes statement that you advocated the school fortress idea? Its not all about you.

HEARTLESS, if I led you to believe I was putting restrictions on posting here, I apologize. Not, you, nor anyone else, needs my "permission" to do so. We good?

Thanks for the answer to the first question. That's something I've not seen from others on other sites advocating for arming school staff - not that they haven't been asked. But, rather, they feel, and have so stated, that concealed carry classes like the one you provided are adequate.

As to the "fortress" question, I didn't mean for it to be tied to this forum. That's the way it came across, and, again, my apologies.

The truth is, following almost every single school shooting tragedy, there's a movement that arises to enhance the hardware and software aspects of emergency management while arguably not adequately addressing the "warmware" (people) aspect. The way I interpreted your comment, wrongfully as it turns out, is that you were implying I support the idea of turning our schools into fortresses.

That being said, I also am wondering how you feel about the question I posed regarding having more guns on campus turning them (campuses) into fortresses?