Moulton ISD
Moulton Police Department
school safety
NRA

Moulton ISD, PD look to NRA to bolster school safety measures

  • Moulton students have routinely trained in active shooter drills erach year, one of many practices adopted in recent years to ensure school safety. Photos by Bobby Horecka
    Moulton students have routinely trained in active shooter drills erach year, one of many practices adopted in recent years to ensure school safety. Photos by Bobby Horecka
  • As part of those drills, various scenarios are called out over the intercom, informing all students in grades 7-12 of what is happening, how many intruders might be involved and what they are doing. Based on that information, the students decide their next course of action, be it slip out the back or hunker down and barricade. All the while, staff do their best answer questions and lead guided discussions on the subject.
    As part of those drills, various scenarios are called out over the intercom, informing all students in grades 7-12 of what is happening, how many intruders might be involved and what they are doing. Based on that information, the students decide their next course of action, be it slip out the back or hunker down and barricade. All the while, staff do their best answer questions and lead guided discussions on the subject.
  • After each day's drills are completed, students gather together for a debriefingh session, both with faculty and administrators and local law enforcement, at which time they address various scenarios and assess how students and faculty performed mduring those drills, both to compliment those who did particularly well in a given exercise as well as discuss ways they might improve their decision-making in the future.
    After each day's drills are completed, students gather together for a debriefingh session, both with faculty and administrators and local law enforcement, at which time they address various scenarios and assess how students and faculty performed mduring those drills, both to compliment those who did particularly well in a given exercise as well as discuss ways they might improve their decision-making in the future.
  • Interim Moulton Police Chief and school board president Daniel Beyer said he's proud of the strides that the school district and police force have made in improving the security of their cam,puses in recent years, but more can always be done. He and many school district officials are hoping the program funded by the nation's largest pro-gun organization, the NRA, will help them fill in some of their gaps.
    Interim Moulton Police Chief and school board president Daniel Beyer said he's proud of the strides that the school district and police force have made in improving the security of their cam,puses in recent years, but more can always be done. He and many school district officials are hoping the program funded by the nation's largest pro-gun organization, the NRA, will help them fill in some of their gaps.

    The Moulton Police Department and Moulton ISD are banding together like never before in hopes of landing some school safety funds from what some may call a less-than-likely source when it comes to such matters.

    Especially when those dollars come from members the National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest and most influential pro-gun organizations.

    While the NRA is world renowned for protecting Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms for more than 150 years, it is also well established since its founding in 1871 for its focus on marksmanship, responsible gun ownership and safety promotion programs, always an eye focused on the future through its various programs nationwide.

    Which is how the NRA School Shield Grant Program came into existence. 

    Launched in 2012 in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the NRA School Shield Grant Program recognized the needs of schools, especially, to do all they could to make the security enhancements necessary to protect our most valuable resources, our children. 

    At the same time, the NRA also understood that funding is not always readily available, especially when it comes to spending on items that will rarely ever wind up in the public eye. As such school officials were often limited in making all the improvements needed to ramp up security as much as most officials in education and law enforcement would like. 

    “The NRA has been at the forefront of providing training and financial resources to keep our children safe and secure in school,” said Joseph DeBergalis Jr., executive director of NRA general operations. 

    “Many schools indicate insufficient funding as the reason for not enhancing security. Recognizing that school security is a multifaceted issue, The NRA Foundation is making it possible for educational institutions to implement necessary enhancements to keep their students safe,” he said.

    The grant application period opened to all accredited non-profit and public K-12 schools earlier this month and will close at the end of the day on Wednesday, Aug. 31. During the last request period for NRA School Shield grants, over $1 million was awarded to schools across America.

    “Thanks to NRA members who care about protecting our schoolchildren, NRA School Shield assistance is offered free of charge. No other political group, media conglomerate or the Hollywood crowd has ever offered anything like this,” NRA President Oliver North wrote in a recent NRA blog.

    Individual grants are subject to funding availability and NRA Foundation Board approval. Applicants will be notified if they’ve won by mid-October.

    Renee Fairchild, Moulton ISD superintendent, began exploring more about the grants following her recent meeting with the local city council, where one of the local aldermen told her about the NRA grants. 

    She immediately recognized it as an opportunity that could greatly benefit the local campuses, noted MISD board president Daniel Beyer, who also happens to serve not only as a state Child Protective Services (CPS) investigator, but he’s also currently serving as Moulton’s interim police chief.

    Now his fourth stint as leader of the city’s police force, Chief Beyer noted he was hardly a novice in a letter he penned to NRA grant reviewers last week in support of the school’s application.

    “The district, along with the Moulton Police Department, is making an effort to prioritize safety in our school by having an officer on campus one day a week,” he wrote. “We are also proud to have a Guardian Program in which school faculty members are allowed to carry firearms on campus. 

    While both great implementations to the safety of the school, Beyer said, “we know that it is not enough.”

    Which is why Fairchild has broached the idea of buying mace/pepper guns to further arm staff and building a fence that could enclose the entire campus. 

    While the district would love to implement both, post haste, Fairchild noted, the district simply does not have the funds necessary to implement them all. Which is why they were turning to the NRA for help, the two said. 

    “I can confirm that the Moulton Police Department fully cooperates with and supports the Moulton school district,” Beyer wrote in his letter.  “I have been an officer with the department for 27 years, and I am proud of the close working relationship that we have with the school district. 

    “We are both fully dedicated to keeping the children, staff and campus safe at all times,” he added. “Thank you for your thoughtful consideration as the district applies for this much needed NRA grant. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.”

    Anyone else interested in lending their support to school officials as they try for the NRA grants is encouraged to act fast. Find out more about the review process by visiting  https://www.nraschoolshield.org.