Published: September 03, 2008 08:42 am      

Thumbs down to guns in school

Phil Riddle, Democrat Editor

By Phil Riddle

editor@weatherforddemocrat.com

Recently a small school district in Texas, Harrold ISD in eastern Wilbarger County, decided to allow teachers and administrators to carry weapons.

Voters in this week’s Democrat online poll voted almost two to one against that decision.

Of the 150 votes cast in the week-long poll, 64 percent said they were against teachers having guns on campus.

Of course, the poll is not scientific and it reflects only the views of those who took the time to go to www.weatherforddemmocrat.com and vote.

According to published reports following Harrold’s decision, part of the reason for allowing guns at school revolved around the remote location of the school. The school, which houses about 100 students in a kindergarten through senior high school on US 287, is about a half-hour away from law enforcement.

Teachers must be licensed to carry weapons and they must keep them “on their person at all times.”

Weatherford’s state senator Craig Estes recently wrote an editorial sent to North Texas newspapers supporting the HISD school board for the controversial decision and suggesting other districts follow suit.

“I applaud the Harrold ISD school board and the superintendent for their focus on school security and visionary approach toward school safety,” Estes wrote. “And I believe other school districts should carefully review and consider this option.”

No only did the respondents in this week’s poll disagree with Estes, several local residents quoted in Sunday’s Talk Back voiced concerns with firearms in close proximity to students.

“I don’t want anyone carrying a gun in the classroom,” one said. “It scares me,” another said. “I don’t have a problem with the Second Amendment, and I don’t have a problem with people owning guns, but I don’t think school is the place.”

Two teachers were among those asked about the new policy in Harrold schools.

“I think that inspiring through fear goes against everything we’re trying to do,” one educator said. “I try to inspire my students through the value of education, and if I were to stand in front of my class with a holster on my hip, that would be lost.”

The other teacher who responded said, “If I wanted to live in a military state, I’d live somewhere else. I’d be a corrections officer, not a classroom teacher.”

Weatherford ISD Superintendent Deborah Cron said the district has no plans to introduce teacher-held weapons on any campuses.

“Safety and education are our top two priorities,” Cron said. “I can’t comment on Harrold ISD because I’m not familiar with the district, its administrators or its board members. I can say, however, that we promote a learning environment at WISD and any type of weapon inside a school building does not contribute to this learning environment — unless it is carried by a law enforcement officer.”

She also added parents have voiced concern that guns in schools could make a bad situation worse, or the weapons could be stolen by students.