With the Forney Independent School District set to discuss campus security measures in their upcoming School Board meeting tonight, January 14, there have been mixed reactions to a possible “Guardian Plan” at FISD.
With the Forney Independent School District set to discuss campus security measures in their upcoming School Board meeting tonight, January 14, there have been mixed reactions to a possible “Guardian Plan” at FISD.
The official agenda states, “Deliberation regarding discussion with District's legal counsel concerning campus security.” With no official vote having been taken yet by the School Board, many options are set to be discussed during Executive Session of the meeting. The session allows the board to meet for the first time since the Sandy Hook tragedy and to also obtain legal counsel for any options discussed. At the conclusion of Executive Session the Board Members are given an opportunity to act and vote on a viable option, but it is not guaranteed any action will be taken.
According to Texas Penal Code 46.03(a)(1), a person commits a crime by carrying a prohibited weapon “on the physical premises of a school or educational institution... unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the institution.”
In October of 2007, the Harrold Independent School District made policy changes that allowed for teachers and administrators to carry a concealed handgun on HISD campuses. HISD has now been thrown in the spotlight again as the building blocks for what is now being deemed the “Guardian Plan” in the State of Texas.
The Harrold ISD’s “Risk Management Emergency Plan” first requires individuals that could potentially be deemed as “guardians” to possess a current concealed handguns license in the State of Texas. The plan also states that “any school employee authorized to possess a firearm on school property shall be provided additional training in crisis intervention, management of hostage situations, and other training as the Board or designee may determine necessary or appropriate.”
The plan also outlines the usage of specific ammunition allowed stating, “Only frangible ammunition, i.e., ammunition designed to have reduced ricochet hazard, will be permitted in firearms authorized to be on school property.” Frangible ammunition is designed to disintegrate upon contact into tiny pieces to limit ricochet and unintended harm beyond one’s target.
Although the HISD’s safety plan has taken on the nickname of the “Guardian Plan”, this is not the standard plan outlined by any legislation in the State of Texas. An individual district is given the opportunity to decide what policies, training, licenses, and any other restrictions should be covered in their own tailored plan. That is, the individual school district decides whether or not to implement any sort of “Guardian Plan” or other staff concealed carry plan.
The Harrold ISD implemented their policy based on completely different needs however, stating, “Recognizing that [Harrold] District schools are located in a somewhat isolated area and that response from emergency first responders, including law enforcement personnel, takes a minimum of approximately 30 minutes, the Board adopts the following policy to address concerns about effective and timely response to emergency situations at schools, including invasion of the schools by an armed outsider, hostage situations, students who are armed and posing a direct threat of physical harm to themselves or others, and similar circumstances.”