Sorry, but I'm a little uneasy with the type of person that is going to be attracted by this program and ultimately, I don't think enough educators will opt in to make a difference, campus-wide.
Let's step through it.
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All teachers who want to participate in the Guardian Plan must already have their concealed handgun license
ok, so far so good. And this might encourage teachers who don't already have their concealed carry licence to get one...
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and will go through extensive training, including crisis intervention and management of hostage situations.
Now, wait a minute. Teachers are already resource-strapped as it is. And they don't have a lot of extra time to spare. When is this training proposed to happen?
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Training will take place over the summer, and the Guardian Plan requirements and training will be included in the district's emergency operation procedures to note what must be done every nine weeks, every semester or every year.
So teachers are supposed to give up more of their summer? I don't think this will be very popular.
No mention of how many hours are included in the extensive training. I looked up similar programs and this is what I found:
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Sentinels receive 4 hours of defensive tactics. However, their firearms training includes the same 80 hours as a basic recruit plus:
-16 hours of precision pistol training
-4 hours of discretionary (shoot-or-don't-shoot) training
-An extra 8 hours of active shooter training
-20 hours of deadly force legal education (learning when to legally step into a situation and shoot)
It's a total of 132 hours of training.
http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/inside-the-sentinel-training-program-arming-teachers-in-polk-county
There's no mention of extra pay for this service the teachers are providing.
In short, the hours of training
over the summer will be a deterrent to participation in the program. But furthermore, I'd have to question the true intentions of a teacher who was willing to go through all of the training and red tape just to carry a weapon in the classroom. I'm sorry, but I'd say that person is a little too enthusiastic about the opportunity and would be anxiously awaiting a situation where they could use their training.