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DISD Board votes to implement Guardian Program, again

Board action could force change in SRO costs

With the item properly posted on the agenda, the Decatur School Board Tuesday voted 5-1 to implement the Guardian Program, which would allow trained staff to carry guns in school.

The vote was nearly the same as last week’s vote on the program, which was listed as a discussion item rather than an action item at the May 15 meeting. The vote was held again Tuesday after the school district’s attorneys said last week’s “action on the Guardian Program was done without the agenda reflecting that action may be taken, (so) the action is legally voidable,” according to a statement released by the district Saturday.

The only difference in the vote was that Scott Koehler — who made the original motion to implement the Guardian Program last week during discussion of an action item to seek a parent survey on the issue — was not in attendance Tuesday.

Jeremy Duncan made the motion to approve the Guardian Program at the special meeting, with the second coming from Sandra Schneider.

Three members of the public spoke during open forum, all opposed to implementing the program.

Luke Campbell explained that he has spent the last 18 years at the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, including 10 years as a firearms instructor, nine years on the SWAT team and two as SWAT commander. He had several concerns with arming teachers, including the amount of training that would be necessary and having to make a choice when to shoot.

“The state allows deadly force to prevent death or serious bodily injury to yourself or others. So what happens when a teacher sees a fight that has gone too far? The teacher thinks they see a knife and shoots the kid in defense of another. Not a stranger, but a kid who that teacher has known for years,” Campbell said.

He added that he had done research on arming teachers and could not find an instance where an armed teacher had stopped a potential active shooter, but he said he did find more than 100 incidents nationwide where students found a weapon left out by teachers, some of which led to accidental discharges in schools.

“In my opinion, more guns in schools will not make them more secure, it will only increase the opportunity for another tragedy,” he said, concluding his remarks.

Former Decatur ISD technology director Troy Bagwell asked the board how they could disregard the advice of Decatur Police Chief Delvon Campbell, who had asked the board not to implement the program at the May 15 meeting, and how that could affect their relationship with the police department moving forward.

“Do you expect cooperation, collaboration, or do you expect compliance?” Bagwell said. “Are you just going to expect them to comply with your wishes?

“I have no doubt our police officers will be so brave if something horrible happens, and because of this, why dismiss their advice?”

He added that allowing teachers to carry guns would not lead to a more safe environment.

“Schools are sacred ground,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong – I do believe there is evil in the world, in many forms, and school shooters are evil. The lives of our children, teachers and staff are priceless. But know this – I believe adding more guns in schools poisons that sacred ground.”

Danny Cross said he didn’t understand why the program was necessary since the school already utilizes school resource officers and has put in place other security measures such as “Stop the Prop” which encourages students and staff to keep exterior doors locked and closed at all times.

He also mentioned the Guardian Program was opposed by Chief Campbell.

“Why (would) my dear friend, the chief, want to send officers into a school with an active shooter and you’ve got active shooting teachers in there? It’s going to turn into a blood bath,” Cross said.

He added that he wanted the Decatur Police Department to be respected.

When it came time for board members to make comment during the action item portion of the meeting, board members Melonie Christian, Jonathan Ross, Stan Shults and board president Dylan Barnes all mentioned their desire to continue working with the Decatur Police Department and law enforcement as part of the school security measures moving forward.

Christian responded to the comment about the action leading to a potential blood bath.

“We’re not looking for a blood bath in our buildings,” she said. “This is something we want to prevent in our buildings. And this is a second layer we are putting in our system to support our current system we have in place. Yes, it is a financial cost. It is also a lot of training for this program. When the (staff) survey went out, we sent a link for them to look at the program in depth. This isn’t an easy decision for any of us to make. I hope you don’t think we’re making it lightly, because we’re not.”

Ross said that while he believed last week’s vote “was premature and rushed,” he said it was done in an effort to place safety as the highest priority in the district.

“If we move forward with this program, I propose we do a town hall forum to explain in more depth what the details of this program are like for our community and our administration,” he said.

Shults, who provided the lone opposing vote both times on the Guardian Plan issue, said he was disappointed that the board’s action at the last meeting had led to the Decatur Police Department terminating the contract with the school district to provide school resource officers.

Currently, the city pays 100 percent of the salary and benefits for one SRO and 30 percent of the salary and benefits to all other SROs in the district, with the school district paying 70 percent of the costs, according to a copy of the latest MOU on file with the school district. The MOU includes language that would allow either party to terminate the agreement with 30-days notice.

Shults alluded to the termination of the old agreement, saying it could cost the district millions of dollars over the next 25 years.

“Decatur ISD will now have to possibly pick up all of the city’s portion, which could be well over $3 million in additional expenditures over the next 25 years,” he said. “For a school district whose taxpayers just voted down a bond to ease overcrowding and safety issues because of the cost and now has budgetary pressures, this is a disappointing waste of taxpayer money that could have gone to other uses such as teacher pay.”

Decatur City Manager Nate Mara said the city plans on continuing its relationship with the school district on security issues.

“The city has no intent of terminating any partnerships with the school district. We simply need to make sure the agreement between the district and the city is responsible for both parties,” Mara said in a phone call to the Messenger Tuesday night. “At the end of the day, it’s about the teachers and students who are at those schools.”

Board president Dylan Barnes said the action to implement the Guardian Plan is only a first step in the process, and more information would be provided at a later date.

“I have questions of my own, and so do other people on the board. That information is to come,” Barnes said. “We have to select who is going to provide the training. We plan to work with the police department in selecting that. We are going to answer questions as we go further along in this process.”

No other information about the Guardian Program, including potential costs and training requirements, were made available at the meeting.

One response to “DISD Board votes to implement Guardian Program, again”

  1. Pedro Rivas says:

    Board members have questions yet, they still vote and approve the action.

    This move will cost the district a whole lot more if an incident occurs where a teacher takes matters into their hands and a student gets hurt on your watch.

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