School safety ideas aired

Legislator proposals include armed guards, armed teachers

“It’s not of matter of is something going to happen in Louisiana. It’s a question of when.” col. Mike edmonson, State Police

As state officials debated the safety level of Louisiana’s schools Thursday, state Rep. Greg Cromer made a suggestion.

Cromer, R-Slidell, raised the possibility of training and arming teachers since they were the only wall between schoolchildren and a gunman last month in Newton, Conn.

Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, urged legislators not to mix functions. “I was an English teacher. You don’t want me having a gun,” he said.

The Louisiana House Select Committee on Homeland Security met to review laws and procedures following the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Adam Lanza allegedly shot and killed his mother before driving to the school and opening fire. He later took his own life.

Twenty schoolchildren and six adults died in the shooting spree as law enforcement scrambled to respond.

At the State Capitol on Thursday, committee members spent several hours identifying possible flaws in Louisiana’s school safety plans. Legislators heard from education officials as well as law enforcement officers.

They were told that drills, vigilance and strong law enforcement ties are key. They debated how to secure classroom doors without hampering the ability to evacuate in the event of a fire. They fielded a suggestion of putting an armed guard in every school.

State Police Col. Mike Edmonson reminded members that Lanza blasted his way into a locked down school by shattering a window. To prevent the tragedy, something needed to happen before Lanza reached the schoolyard, Edmonson said.

“We’ve got to have candid conversations about violence in the community. That’s where it starts,” Edmonson said.

The committee’s chairman, state Rep. John Schroder, said recommendations need to form quickly.

The legislative session begins in April.

“I’ve got to believe some type of legislation is needed,” said Schroder, R-Covington.

Every public school in Louisiana is required by law to prepare crisis management and response plans that detail security measures in the event of a violent incident or emergency.

State Superintendent of Education John White said the plans could be sitting on shelves when they need to be rehearsed.

He said law enforcement needs to help design and implement the plans. Parents, he said, should know the contents.

“The events of last month clearly reinforce the need for vigilance,” White said.

Chas Roemer, president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said local schools, communities and school systems need to examine the specifics of their situations. He said customization will be required.

School systems outlined what they already are doing.

Security cameras are mounted on school buses in St. Charles Parish. Prospective employees are fingerprinted in Bossier Parish.

LSU, which is home to a laboratory school, child-care center, day-care centers and a college, stepped up bike patrols and launched a “See something, say something” campaign.

Monaghan said there is a thin line between keeping students safe and fanning the flames of paranoia.

He described growing up in New Orleans during the height of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when schoolchildren were drilled in the practice of ducking and covering. It was a false sense of security, Monaghan said.

“We have to be realistic about what the role of an educator is versus the role of a security enforcer,” Monaghan said.

The governor formed his own study committee to look at school safety.

Recommendations requiring legislative action are supposed to be ready for consideration in the session that starts April 8.

Schroder said he is willing to call another meeting of his committee if necessary.

State Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, said she plans to introduce legislation requiring armed security guards in elementary schools.

Multiple legislators agreed that the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness should coordinate efforts to ensure safety in schools.

Edmonson said State Police already monitor social media since many people talk about violent acts before they commit them.

“It’s not a matter of is something going to happen in Louisiana. It’s when,” he said.

Comments

1) Comment by jeffsadow - 18/01/2013

A number of former military head to the classroom after discharge or retirement, through programs like Troops to Teachers. A few retired law enforcement officers do as well. They could be paid small bonuses and allowed to pack arms, as is allowed by law under school district policy. This might not help all schools but probably many could benefit.

2) Comment by twinkie1cat - 18/01/2013

One more thought. Jindal has frozen the budgets for the K-12 schools for 4 years and threatens further cuts. Who is going to pay for the extra security? I think he would probably expect the school boards to demand fewer teachers in order to pay for them instead of putting up the money from his executive budget or raising taxes. He's too selfish to do anything but put the burden on the schools.

3) Comment by twinkie1cat - 18/01/2013

We don't need to put any more stress on teachers by expecting them to carry a gun and giving them nightmares about having to kill somebody. Even the idea of a gun in a classroom would frighten most teachers and they would probably keep it in their desk locked snugly in a drawer, with the bullets somewhere else if they were required to carry one...... What should be done about school security? NOTHING. School shootings are extremely rare and the Connecticut shooting was especially painful because the kids were so little. Putting guns in schools will not bring those kids back. It will only endanger them, because it will give other children, access to them. My boys in New Orleans (severely retarded ages 10-13) used to sneak my cell phone out of my pocket and hide it. Once they hid it in the wheelchair of their friend and fellow conspirator---under him. What if I had been required to carry a gun and that had been what they had hidden instead???? If a school has a resource officer, that officer should have a Taser, and every teacher should be able to lock her door from the inside quickly, even remotely, and perhaps in some cases be able to bring down automatic shades, such as are put over store fronts as well. But nobody should have a gun. EVER, not even if you teach in the inner city as I did. (Although it is interesting that the mass shootings have occurred in the suburbs or ruralities by white kids. There is a reason for that but I won't go into it here.)

4) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/01/2013

Thanks, Noel.

5) Comment by ultimateliberal - 18/01/2013

I can see it now: Gang initiation requires newbies to overpower their teacher and steal her gun. Then they use it to take her money, credit cards, cell phone, shoot her, and have a blast out on the street as heroes of the 'hood............

6) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 18/01/2013

For @Being_Stupid: Cliff notes for my comments below. Most children who are shot or killed are NOT shot or killed while in school. In fact, schools are still the safest places for children. Let's do something to increase the health and safety of students where it will make the most difference. In their homes and in their neighborhoods. Research matters.

7) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 18/01/2013

Perhaps we (again) need a bit of perspective here. As we seek to respond to the recent tragedy, we need to keep a sense of perspective, I believe. Without in any way minimizing the horror of what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I think it is important to maintain a bit more perspective about the relative risk of our young children being killed at school. In the year that included the horrors of Columbine, there were a total of 33 murders of adults and children at school or during transportation to or from school or related school activities. During that same year, 2374 school age children were murdered. So in that year, school related murders made up a little over 1.3% of all school age children murdered that year. Considering that school age children spend approximately 17% of their time in school... if schools were as dangerous as all other locations, we might expect schools to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 murders. Obviously schools are much safer for students than the home and neighborhood, when it comes to murder. In the 2009- 2010 school year, there were 25 murders of students and adults in schools or during transportation and school related activities. During that same year there were three killings in schools by armed officers. During that year, murders at school represented far less than 2% of all murders of school age children. In fact, the Department of Justice has not found a year where school-related deaths represented over 2% of all school-age murders. Again, this is an indication that deaths caused by school shootings are not nearly as prevalent as the murder of students outside of schools. Ask hospitals when their pediatric emergency room doctors are busiest. I can assure you it is NOT during school time. Now, do children fight and get hurt at school? Yes, they always have. Any teacher will tell you that kids in some of the roughest schools fight at school, knowing they will be suspended or expelled, and will tell the teachers, in a moment of honesty, why they fight at school! (Hint, they are less likely to face a gun, knife, or death at school fighting than they would on the street.) In the 1996-1997 School year Louisiana was tied for the second highest murder rate in the nation for children aged 0-17, at 5.4 murders per 100,000 juveniles. None of these took place at school. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/homicidechildrenyouth.pdf Here is what the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention said in their report in 2001: "Available data do not suggest that schools are particularly risky places for homicide victimization, nor do they show that schools are becoming increasingly risky." Whenever we were faced with a question of policy, especially in response to a particularly tragic event, I always asked this question of the School Board and Administration: "What is the opportunity-cost of their proposed solution." In very simple terms, the opportunity-cost is the cost of one solution as opposed to other alternative solutions. What other options are lost in taking one particular approach. To take it out of the immediate realm and lessen the emotional response, I will point out a similar question I raised when there were students killed in a bus accident in the US... parents and legislators immediately talked about installing seat belts on all busses. Would it save lives? Possibly. Here was just one question I raised in testimony at the legislature. "If we were required to retrofit all older busses, and have all new busses equipped with seat belts, what would this do to our ability to purchase new busses, which are much safer in terms of new technology for keeping students safe than the older busses." Luckily, the National Traffic and Safety Administration had a study in the works. It found that there was little increase in safety, overall, for students. The costs would have prevented us from replacing much older busses with new, safer busses as well. In addition, there would be a net financial loss to the district due to forgoing to more fuel-efficient newer busses. I am amazed that people commenting on here often criticize some of us saying, "all you care about is money!" Amazing considering that somehow basic economics seems to be denied in the statement. Funding is finite, yet needs and desirable services in schools are not so finite. IF we put seat belts on ALL busses, there would not be money for some other purposes! In the case of safety officers for schools, let's just imagine what the opportunity cost might be. Let's use some round numbers. With over 1300 public schools in the state, and fewer than 300 having full-time security at the schools, we will use a round number of 1000 schools to equip with armed security guards. What shall we pay them? We certainly don't want minimum wage (most of the current security is provided via trained law-enforcement personnel, costing districts well over $50,000 per year per school) so we will use a round number of $50,000 per school per year. Now keep in mind, this is not going to be enough for large schools, but we will use this number for now. So, $50,000 times 1000 schools currently without protection, we get a total of 50 million dollars a year. Not a particularly large number some might say, but what would making that choice entail? In the absence of new funds, a likely scenario, what cuts would have to be made to existing programs? Cuts in social workers, school counselors? The very people likely to be of assistance in identifying students who might be having some violent tendencies (if only these employees weren't so busy supporting the test-taking mania of the "reformers), would we cut their positions? Schools are the safest places for kids, and please, we all know and understand that the particular schools in the recent tragedies are NOT the norm, yet overall schools are the safest places for school age children. Both the Department of Justice and the National Center for Education Statistics bear this out. I note that specialized programs for dealing with adolescent violence and mental health are being cut, and schools have had their budgets cut to the bone, while at the same time we are calling for more school safety. As we seek to deal with the tragedies, let's keep all options open, and not respond to knee- jerk reactions that are best described as "do something--even if it is wrong!" Our children deserve better.

8) Comment by Lannonmac - 18/01/2013

I have no problem with armed security guards, who have been properly trained, providing security at schools, in fact I see no alternative. It is a fact that the assault weapon gene is out of the bottle and there is little anyone can do about the millions of AR-15s, AK-47 and other assault rifles already sold in the USA. Therefore the only alternative we have to protect our children at schools and universities is to provide armed guards to shield them from a maniac wielding an assault rifle. As for the wisdom of arming school teachers, school Administrators and school janitors, just think back to your school days and think if you would want your teacher, principle or janitor running around with a loaded .45? Not me, no way. Nothing against my teachers, but no way would I want them locked and loaded. I am a solutions kind of guy, so I think we need a viable game plan to protect our kids from maniacs. Let’s stop the idiotic NRA false bravado about guns being needed to “protect us from tyranny” and the quixotic fantasy of gun confiscation and get down to brass tacks. Likewise, stop the stupidity of suggesting that gun-free zones are the problem, let’s face it, maniacs having access to firearms is the problem, so let’s get going and trying to do something about it. The logical short term solution is to hire enough police to be stationed at each and every public school in the USA. This will not be a cure-all, but it is the best quick protection I can think of. It would make sense that Veterans be the first pool of possible recruits for additional police, they have already had firearms training and many of them have already had advanced combat training. Also, when the inevitable whining about how much this would cost and how it will balloon the deficit, just ask yourself this question: “How much is my kid worth?”

9) Comment by HMaltravers - 18/01/2013

For the sake of discussion, say teachers were to be armed. OK, first the weapon would have to be kept under lock and key in a secure place in a classroom. Second, an armed student enters the room firing a semi-automatic weapon. Third, the teacher--providing he/she hasn't been wounded/killed--would then have to unlock the cabinet, remove the gun, take it off safety, and then begin firing. Oh, and in the process try to protect a class of 25 or more students. Of course, I guess a teacher could wear a gun on his/her hip like a police officer.

10) Comment by Buck - 18/01/2013

As I understand, lil Bobby and his cabal of ALEC/NRA will come up with their own plan. Thus, sadly what a waste of time for another legislative committee to work on this matter. The only good thing that will come from such is at least there will be the opportunity to hear comments from some folks that may have viable ideas. When all is said and done it gets down to a public health issue versus a marketing strategy. Oh I forgot, its about protecting our children.

11) Comment by Chucky - 18/01/2013

Steve Monaghan, I know English but am to stupid to use a gun.

12) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/01/2013

Steve Monopolyman does not represent teachers. Steve is a self-appointed leader of a group of leftist-loonies that call themselves teachers, but are nothing more than a group of freeloaders sapping off taxpayer money that is suppose to fund public education.

13) Comment by DMJ - 18/01/2013

Steve Monaghan sounds like the only smart person involved in this discussion.

14) Comment by Chucky - 18/01/2013

If not for the children then to protect yourself.

15) Comment by spqr - 18/01/2013

It is hard to believe that many of the so-called leaders of this state believe arming PE, science and math teachers-middle class educated people dedicated to their profession despite incredible political abuse-are being considered as enlistees in an army againt the incivility on our streets. I would rather funds dedicated to hire police officers on grade school campuses and leave coaching, teaching, fund-raising, parental meetings, drug enforcement, breaking up fights, grading papers, making out lesson plans, attending faculty and departmental meetings, washing uniforms, cleaing gyms, striping fields, running clubs, chaperoning dances, attending honors nights and gradation excercises, and mandatory "professional development" to the overwhelmed teachers who have seen paychecks in the last three years dwindle to nothing. When is enough-enough?