Safety at Schools: Identifying the Costs Associated with the Necessary Safeguards for Arming Educators

Abstract

Editors’ note: The Rural Educator publishes a policy brief each issue, intended to explore topics pertinent to rural education policy and advocacy. The issue of school safety is particularly timely, especially for rural schools. We believe this essay, based on surveys of school leaders in Colorado, takes a unique perspective by examining the financial costs that might be associated with policies to place guns in schools.

Texas sheriffs’ perceptions on firearm regulations and mass shootings

“…Other policymakers have been less certain of a positive outcome coming from arming the untrained. Weiler et al (2018) completed a survey of Colorado school superintendents about arming teachers in the classroom and identifying what safeguards they would want in place to mitigate the potential for tragic mishap. Although the researchers fully recognized that this is a very complex issue, they suggest, nonetheless, that superintendents expressed hesitancy about allowing any educator to carry a firearm on campus.…”

“…Although the researchers fully recognized that this is a very complex issue, they suggest, nonetheless, that superintendents expressed hesitancy about allowing any educator to carry a firearm on campus. As they quoted one of their respondents, “[t]here are teachers that I barely trust with students, let alone guns” (Weiler et al, 2018: 55). This group also expressed concern that teachers may be improperly trained to make life and death decisions and that the costs of such a policy may shift resources away from other school concerns.…”