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Guns in schools a complicated issue for area superintendents

Since the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, there have been more than 20 shootings at schools around the country, and since the shooting at Newton Elementary School in 2012, discussions about how best to keep schools safe have increased.

Last month, after another mass shooting, this time at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, President Donald Trump called for schools to have teachers carry guns. That conversation came home when an incident occurred at Ella White Elementary School on March 1. It’s a conversation that area superintendents understand, but wish they didn’t have to worry about.

“It’s a debate that I think needs to happen on how do we protect our schools best,” Alpena Public Schools Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner said. “I feel like we’re fortunate at Alpena High School and Thunder Bay Junior High School that we have the support of local law enforcement there are liaison officers.”

VanWagoner said APS is blessed to have that compared to a lot of other schools that have no police presence at the schools. He said it’s a big positive for the school district that he’s been thankful for since he’s been at APS.

“That being said, there’s lots of different thoughts and theories that are being put out there about how best to do that,” VanWagoner said. “I think we need to have a serious conversation, not only about how we protect our schools, but facility wise how can we make our schools as safe as they can knowing that none of them were designed with the thought in mind that any of these horrific things that have happened across our country could happen.”

Rogers City Area Schools Superintendent Nicholas Hein said he has spent a lot of time talking about school safety with a number of people in the community. He said he has also talked to teachers as well, but teachers are trained in math, science, English and educating students.

“If you’re going to give someone a 90-minute crash course in how to use a gun to shoot other people, even in living in northern Michigan and being a long-time rifle hunter myself, I can tell you it takes years of experience to rifle hunt before you’re good at it,” he said. “That’s where I think the disconnect is. In any profession you are highly trained in what you’re doing. Our school district buildings are small, we’re not a 3,500 person school system and we have an armed police officer trained to handle these things. The belief that arming others who are not trained at all, training means experience.”

Posen Consolidated Schools Superintendent Michelle Wesner agreed with Hein, saying teachers are trained to teach.

“That is asking too much for our teachers. We talk about the fact that we are here to educate,” she said. “We want to keep (students) safe and provide a nurturing environment. The officers need to be provided, if they think we need more as far as presence in the building. That’s not a teacher’s job. Guns have no place in the school system unless they’re on a police officer.”

Carl Seiter, who is superintendent for both the Atlanta and Hillman school districts, said guns in schools hinder the educational process.

“Everyone doesn’t feel comfortable around firearms and that level of fear impacts a child’s ability to learn,” Seiter said. “Anything that makes a child uncomfortable to a point of not being engaged in learning, I am against.”

Seiter said he would suggest to legislators they pursue a statewide or countywide millage to put school resource officers in every school. He believes that would be a more effective security measure and it would make the students feel safer as well.

Seiter said superintendents, school administrators, and board members talk frequently about how to handle those situations and proper planning is key.

Alcona Community Schools Superintendent Dan O’Connor said there would have to be a long thoughtful process about teachers carrying firearms. He said there would have to be a detailed plan and it would have to be something where school boards would have a say.

“It’s a really difficult subject to talk about and I know a lot of teachers who say that’s not why they went into education, it’s not something on their radar,” he said. “It would take time to move forward to what’s best.”

VanWagoner said APS is blessed to have liaison officers compared to a lot of other schools that have no police presence at the schools. He said it’s a big positive for the school district that he’s been thankful for since he’s been at APS.

“That being said, there’s lots of different thoughts and theories that are being put out there about how best to do that,” VanWagoner said. “I think we need to have a serious conversation, not only about how we protect our schools, but facility wise how can we make our schools as safe as they can knowing that none of them were designed with the thought in mind that any of these horrific things that have happened across our country could happen.”

VanWagoner said there needs to be a serious debate across the country, but especially in Michigan, on what school safety should be.

VanWagoner said there haven’t been internal conversations in the school district about guns.

“We haven’t at this point because at the high school and junior high, we have those liaison officers,” he said. “I think that that’s so important that we have those so at this point, I think we’ve held off on the debate because of that.”

Seiter said the schools plan for situations all the time and although it is impossible to plan for every scenario. He said a great deal of time is dedicated to ensuring the safety of the children.

“Schools are required to hold many types of drills each years,” Seiter said. “Specifically, three lockdown drills are required along with fire and severe weather drills.”

Seiter said with recent events, drills that are about intruder scenarios have taken on a whole new level of seriousness.

“More often than not, intruder scenarios take the form of a noncustodial parent trying to gain access to kids,” Seiter said. “However, all scenarios are drilled in preparation for the worst and it’s sad but this is what we have to guard against.”

Hein wonders where the funding for the the added security measures will come from. He said that state funding is the same it has been for schools since 2008. He said while funding has remained the same, there are more services that schools have to provide.

“There’s never one dollar attached to new laws,” he said. “Just the same, maybe we’re going to come up with new security laws for school systems there won’t be any money attached to it. It’s only more directives.”

VanWagoner said APS will abide by the law and whatever legislators come up with with.

“I just think that that debate truly in my opinion is just really beginning and I think that it needs to go deeper,” VanWagoner said. “Our communities need to be taught and we need our legislators to meet with our parents and people in our community and have that conversation so they can be well informed on what the wishes of the people are.”

VanWagoner said he believes in local control so what the local community chooses to do should be taken into account.

APS does have emergency plans in place that are reviewed every year.

“We meet with all of our local law enforcement to go over our school safety procedures,” VanWagoner said. “By state law, we have to practice different scenarios, fire drill, tornado drill, and a threatening person in the building drill.”

VanWagoner said the plans are in place and the principals and law enforcement officers have copies of.

“They know the situation if something happens based on what the plan is to what to do in that scenario,” he said.

Hein said that while all the talk is about what to do with dealing with a potential shooter, preventing someone from becoming a shooter needs to be prioritized.

“What are we doing to prevent this is still the question not answered,” he said. “How are we getting more people who are around our youth who can educate them and help them? That’s the question, not how are we going to shoot them after the fact.

“When you identify problems we always wait for something to happen to do anything. When a lot of times these behavioral issues. Now we’re in charge of teaching the kids the core subjects, we’re in charge of behavior now. Before you learned behavior at home now it’s the school system’s responsibility to teach behavior, now the school system is responsible for security. Our county did a tremendous job because our voters pay for the school resource officers in each building. The behavioral and mental health questions those are funding questions.”

Julie Goldberg can be reached via email at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.

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