Tag: arming teachers

DeWine to Ohio Superintendents: $100 Million Budgeted for School Safety Grants

Bradley Vasoli

Ohio schools will receive $100 million in total to purchase security equipment as part of the next round of K-12 School Safety Grants, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) wrote to superintendents on Friday.

The allocations, which come as a part of the state’s capital budget bill that DeWine signed into law last week, will go toward purchases such as outdoor lighting, facility-mapping software, school-radio systems, door-locking technology and visitor-badge systems. The Ohio School Safety Center in Columbus is now drafting the application for schools to access this money and expects to soon start the application process.

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Mastriano Proposes Allowing Permitted Teachers to Be Armed at Pennsylvania Schools

Bradley Vasoli

State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) asked colleagues Tuesday to co-sponsor a bill he plans to introduce to let teachers carry guns in Pennsylvania schools. 

Under the proposal, teachers who hold concealed carry permits may be armed on school property provided they complete “a rigorous firearms course from a certified instructor.” Similar measures are now in effect in 28 states.

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Bill Allowing Trained Teachers To Carry Concealed Firearms On School Property Passes House Committee

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The bill allowing private certified firearms instructors and the local law enforcement agency to train teachers who are allowed to carry concealed firearms on school property passes the House Civil Justice Committee by a vote of 8 to 3 along party lines. House Bill 2208, sponsored by David “Coach” Byrd (R-Waynesboro), after about an hour and a half of debate, passed another hurdle Tuesday. As previously reported by The Tennessee Star, the bill expands a previous bill by Byrd that was restricted to the distressed rural counties of Wayne and Pickett, after local law enforcement did not conduct the training and following the Parkland, Florida school shooting. Byrd, a teacher, coach and principal before retiring and joining the Tennessee General Assembly, would prefer to have a School Resource Officer (SRO) in every school. But, across there state there are approximately 800 SROs for the 1,800 schools, providing coverage to only about 40 percent. The financial reality is that, at a cost of approximately $45,000 per year, rural distressed counties cannot afford to have an SRO in every school. The bill is “permissive,” in that each individual Local Education Agency (LEA) can opt in but is not compelled…

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Bill to Allow Armed Teachers in Entire State, Not Just Rural Counties, Passes House Subcommittee

Laura Baigert

A bill sponsored by State Rep. David Byrd (R-Waynesboro) that seeks to expand the authorization of an employee to carry concealed weapons on school property beyond distressed rural counties to the entire state, HB 2208, passed its first stop in the House, the Civil Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday by a vote of 5 to 2. In the wake of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting, calls for allowing trained teachers and school employees to conceal carry, thereby enabling a more immediate life-saving response in the case of a shooter on what are currently “soft targets,” have come from multiple sources including the National Rifle Association and President Donald Trump. Byrd, a teacher and coach for decades also served as a principal in Wayne County high schools for ten years before retiring and joining the Tennessee General Assembly in 2015, has now gained 44 House co-sponsors for the bill. For three years, Byrd has been fighting to obtain funding of School Resource Officers (SROs) through a budget appropriation from the governor’s office. According to Byrd’s office, every school in Tennessee should have an SRO, but approximately 60 percent of students in Tennessee are currently not protected by SROs. With an estimated…

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