As part of his plan to improve school safety, Governor Greg Abbott has suggested letting teachers carry guns.
NBC 5's Kris Gutierrez recently sat down with the superintendents at four of the largest school districts in our area to find out what they think about the idea.
"By a show of hands, who is against the idea of allowing teachers to carry guns on your campuses, " Gutierrez asked.
All four raised their hands.
"why," asked Gutierrez.
"Trained professional officers, on our middle school, high school and moving forward our elementary campuses is what we want," said Kent Scribner, Fort Worth ISD Superintendent.
"Things have to be organized. Things have to be well thought out, so at this moment, I don't think that any of us quite frankly, are prepared to implement a policy like that in the short term," said Scribner.
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Gutierrez pressed Scribner about the districts future.
"You're against it right now, but you could see your view change on that in the future," Gutierrez asked.
"Yeah, and perhaps not classroom teachers, but perhaps additional, trained law enforcement individuals," Scribner replied.
"What's wrong if a teacher comes forward and says 'I have my license, I have a gun, I don't carry it on campus, but I'd feel more comfortable protecting my students if I had that ability,'" Gutierrez asked.
"A couple of major reasons," said Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent at Dallas ISD.
"A lot of people don't realize that 75-percent of commissioned peace officers have never discharged their gun. If they ever discharge their gun, they're suspended with pay immediately, to launch an investigation. Many times, even the one's who do go through some serious anguish and issues that they actually discharged their gun. These are trained law enforcement officers. Our teachers are hired to help kids, they're not hired for those kinds of issues," said Hinojosa.
Hinojosa leads the second largest district in our state.
There are 230 schools and 156,000 students in Dallas ISD.
"Even law enforcement has told me, it would make it very complex if they had to come into a building and all of these individuals have guns and law enforcement has been trained that if someone has a gun, they're not your friend. It would just create all kinds of side issues," Hinojosa added.
Kevin Rogers, Superintendent at Lewisville ISD, doesn't want teachers carrying guns either.
"If I was out in west Texas and it was 80 miles to the nearest sheriff's department, I might think differently," Rogers said.
His district is Denton County's largest employer and if anyone knows about confronting a gunman in school, it's him.
"As an administrator in the mid 90's, who along with two other assistant principals, ran into a library where a student was holding a gun on a teacher and a class, and I ended up with the student handing me a loaded 357, I promise you, I understand," Rogers added.
"For 6 years, we have met annually with our police and fire chiefs from the 13 municipalities that we serve and they have adamantly been opposed to arming teachers. That's the first question we ask every year, to make sure they're still on that stance. They're concerned as they enter our buildings, who is the bad guy, who is the good guy when both of them may have a weapon," said Rogers.
Mike Waldrip, Superintendent at Frisco ISD agrees.
"We have law enforcement officials that find it very difficult to deal with those situations when they're thrown into it, so I don't ever see teachers carrying a weapon, " Waldrip said.
He leads the fastest growing school district in our state.
"Its one thing to have a license to carry a hand gun, it's quite another thing to be able to use it to defend yourself or others and be in those critical situations when it's chaotic and all kinds of things are going on. I just don't think they're trained, nor could they perhaps ever be trained to deal with that situation in an effective manner," said Waldrip.
According to the Texas Association of School Boards, of the 1,023 school districts in Texas, at least 218 of them, allow teachers and staff to carry firearms. Though a spokeswoman for that organization stresses the number may grow, as districts continue to revise their policies.
Here in North Texas, Argyle ISD and Melissa ISD, both allow staff members to carry guns, if they have a concealed handgun license and have completed the proper training. They're all volunteers, who've been vetted by the district.
