YISD opts against arming school staff

  • The Yoakum Independent School District Administration Building on Irvine Street. Photo by Hans Lammeman.
    The Yoakum Independent School District Administration Building on Irvine Street. Photo by Hans Lammeman.

    The Yoakum Independent School District (YISD) board of trustees discussed safety measures planned to be implemented for the upcoming school year during their July meeting; arming staff members was not on the list.

     

    Assistant Superintendent for Administration Chris Kvinta said that each of the district’s campuses would undergo a summer target safety audit, exterior door safety audit, active shooter training and emergency response training for staff before the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

     

    “We’ll have training for all staff, that’s going to include subs. We have to train our subs before school starts. We’re going to do that on August 3…,” said Kvinta during the July 11 meeting. “The State will know, and we’ll know; everybody will know when we should be doing required drills.”

     

    While some schools in Texas Education Agency (TEA) Region Three have implemented programs to allow school staff to carry firearms as a means to protect against intruders, Superintendent Tom Kelley said after the meeting that the YISD board was not in favor of such policies. 

     

    “We’ve talked – our board. We’ve gone through the different processes. We feel what’s best for our teachers and our community, right now – our board that represents the community –  is not to have the Guardian (or Texas School Marshal program),” said Kelley. “We’ve reviewed those policies that the State has allowed us to put in. Currently, we feel it’s best not to implement either one of those.”

     

    The superintendent said the school plans to continue to work closely with the Yoakum Police Department and consult their school resource officer regarding school safety.

     

    The Guardian and Texas School Marshal Programs are policies defined by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) to allow one or more staff members to carry firearms on school campuses. 

     

    As of July 11, 62 school districts statewide (about 5%) have implemented the Marshal Program, according to KVUE. 

    “You go back to the school shootings, and the Guardian Program wouldn’t have stopped any of those shootings,” said YISD Board Vice President Terry Boenig during July’s meeting. “One of the big things is getting the kids to buy in too; ‘hey, this guy is doing some strange posting.’”

     

    Kelley said that student safety has been a priority of the district for several years and will continue to be a point of emphasis going forward. 

    “In the last two or three years, we’ve added security cameras. We have an SRO officer,” said Kelley after the meeting. “So, not just this year, our security budget has already gone up because we know the need for security. We’ve taken measures to help out each campus, and we still have more to go. So, have (student safety concerns) impacted the budget? Not only this year, it already has the last four or five years.”