KILGORE, Texas — Many East Texas school districts are heightening up safety measures by implementing the Guardian Program, a plan allowing only trained and qualified school employees to have a concealed firearm in classrooms.
Kilgore ISD approved adding the program in Monday’s school board meeting, making it the final step in the school’s district’s safety plan. The program's purpose is to protect students and staff against an intruder trying to cause harm.
“We're teachers, we know, we're teachers, this is what we do and do for a living and we work very closely with our law enforcement,” Andy Baker, superintendent for Kilgore ISD. “However, as we've talked about this with the school board, it's what we could do a little bit extra just to allow a little bit more chance to help us mitigate something if it were to happen before a local law enforcement had time to show up to the scene.”
It was that exact question that led the school district to move forward to add the program. It’s the latest safety initiative the district is making sure to approach wisely.
Once this new initiative was approved the superintendent made sure to meet all Kilgore ISD employees to inform them about the program.
“We’ve held meetings with staff members and still have a few more to go,” Baker added. “It's just to make sure everybody's on the same page as to what we're trying to do. But more importantly, why we're trying to implement this new program.”
Baker said anyone who shows interest in becoming a guardian and meets the requirements will also serve as an unpaid volunteer.
Some of the requirements include mental and physical screenings along with 40 hours of active firearm training.
“It's really going to be a time commitment for our employees, but probably more important, a mental commitment for our employees should something bad were to happen on our campuses,” Baker said.
The thought of a teacher having a firearm in the classroom for safety purposes brings a peace of mind to some parents.
“I believe that the teachers in the class have to be able to protect themselves and the students in the class around them," Blake Canaday said. "You don't want something you know, like Uvalde or other school campuses like that, of what happened, happening again."
While some may agree, some also understand why parents may be against it.
“I think it's normal. I mean, you give us your babies every single day and it's our job to educate those children,” Baker added. “You've trusted us to do that for years and you'll continue to trust us to do that in the future. This is just one more extra layer and this is not for every staff member there is going to be very few select staff members that will be very well trained."
The interview process will be done during after-school hours and on weekends. Employees selected as school guardians will remain unknown while on school grounds, Baker said.
