By Diana Lambert – EdSource
Legislation recently introduced by Bill Essayli, R-Corona, would require school districts and charter schools to hire an armed law enforcement officer to patrol each of its campuses whenever students are present.
Current state law allows school districts to determine whether to hire or contract for armed law enforcement officers or unarmed security officers. The current law asks districts to consider using resources allocated for police officers for pupil support services and professional development for school employees on cultural competency and restorative justice if it is more appropriate for their students.
Essayli’s legislation would remove all options for school districts except to hire or contract with officers authorized to carry a loaded firearm to staff each of their campuses.
Assembly Bill 3038 could be heard in the education committee on March 18, according to the state website.
If the bill becomes a law it would be a state-mandated local program, requiring the state to reimburse each district for its cost.
Guards, armed or not, should be considered support services. Professional development for school employees on cultural competency and restorative justice won’t do a thing against guns.
I think this is a good bill, as long as the officers have gumption—lest we never forget the May 24, 2022 Uvalde, Texas school shooting debacle…
“Investigations and videos from inside the school have revealed that the 376 law enforcement officers present
that day missed several opportunities to stop the gunman in the midst of unclear communication and leadership. A Texas House committee report also found “systemic failures” and missed warning signs that the gunman may have been planning a violent attack.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/24/uvalde-school-shooting-what-to-know/
Sounds like a great idea. I worked at a local high school and having an SRO on campus had a positive impact on our campus. And, The state should pay for these services, not the cash strapped school districts.
Good. Probably the best thing to do. It’s sad that this needs to be done but is needed.
Steve
I agree with you. Welcome to America where schools have to have armed guards like prisons
It’s about time !
Be cautious and read this bill very carefully. Armed law enforcement officer does not necessarily mean a state sworn peace officer. And patrolling the campus does that mean one officer patrols every campus in the school district or is one officer assigned to each campus?
Just thankful children are grown, or I would be home schooling. If armed guards are needed, it’s not a place for children. These are such sad times.
Good idea but probably won’t get passed in this state
If this bill would become law it would reduce tender aged body count DEMs so desperately need to advance their gun control agenda. Chances of bill passing in CA’s DEM controlled state legislature are zero.
Stop electing DEMs would also reduce death toll by elimination of woke anti Police and soft on crime criminal coddling.
This won’t become law. Won’t get anywhere near it.
& this will show kids what ?
-they’re worth it ?
-sum1’s got their back ?
-respect for guns ?
– nowhere is safe ?
sad that Martial Law is now a ver real way of LIFE🫣😪
Its time you face reality,its a dangerous world and you fight fire with fire,a good guy w/ gun kills a bad guy with gun that would have killed several.
Reality/self defense.
You people just don’t get the fact that this entire fiasco is simply another piece of the agenda to usher in our own community Police State. Have you all lost your minds believing this is a necessary and good idea?
When did any of us who are now in our 40s, 50s, 60s or older have armed guards at our schools? NEVER!! Just (((bring back))) and (((enforce))) the darn laws that worked flawlessly and were on the books for decades and stop the insanity by accepting more bizarre solutions such as armed police on campuses.
I tell you, the majority of people who have a pulse today have no common sense and or critical thinking skills. 🙄
Good point. We have become accustomed to our cops being issued military gear like they are an occupying power. We have become accustomed to mass surveillance. And as they create more crime by not prosecuting, people will ask for more surveillance.
If teachers were allowed to carry on campus, this wouldn’t be an issue. An incentive program for qualified teachers could be created at a fraction of the cost of hiring an armed guard.
Youre the one asking for a bizzare solution.
Another that wont face reality.
Have fun voting Biden.
Get a clue.
Only one?
I hope one is enough!
Millions of unknown aliens were allowed to flow into the USA by our senile left wing looney President Biden. There are terrorists among them, it isn’t a question…. it’s a fact.
I’d expect them to become active after the election, if they were to strike before then it would ensure Trump will win, and they don’t want that!
Who’s paying for this?
I don’t think it needs to be mandatory.
I do agree with the concept.
Sounds ok as long as those hired are there due to skill and training and not a check the box hire,because they will just stand there when a deadly threat shows up.
Really the fears are overblown and the reaction disproportionate. According to the source at bottom, USA had 189 casualties in school shootings from 2012 to 2022. That is 18.9 per year. To put that into perspective, 20 people are killed per year in the USA from lightning strikes. It’s mathematically extremely unlikely.
Put that taxpayer money to better use. Fix the roads. This will cost hundreds of thousands per school per year, it’s a travesty.
We will all also remember the Uvalde sjhoooting the officers stood around like cowards and allowed the shooter to kill more innocents while they cleaned their hand with free school hand sanitizer.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63911172
https://nypost.com/2022/07/12/cop-responding-to-uvalde-shooting-seen-casually-using-hand-sanitizer-during-massacre/ just posting about uvalde to those unaware or too lazy to seek it out
How much will our taxes go up to pay for this, which won’t protect any child from being harmed by a real threat — being hit by a car due to unsafe streets and too big vehicles driven by irresponsible drivers, or being bullied by classmates.
look @ ur prop. tax bill, we pay very little to MDUSD, most of the bill covers sewer (s**t removal)
Yeah, I saw that and agree with you. Multiculturalism has been an extreme failure in America. I’m amazed most of these people can’t see it’s not working. There’s an epidemic of unreported black on white crimes that the media has been hiding from the American people for quite some time (60 plus years). Colin Flaherty Wrote books on this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Girl_Bleed_a_Lot and has YouTube videos that can give you a bigger picture of what’s really going on in the streets and in your schools. I implore all of you to dig into that and prove me wrong if you disagree.
All High Schools in the Oakland Public Schools district, in the mid 70’s and up had armed OPD officer(s) on all of their Campus’, including Skyline.
And here we see the Republican answer to guns in our schools: More guns.
As someone who works in a school, a part of me wonders every day if someone is going to walk in and start shooting. It’s something I have to live with.
At this point, I don’t think more guns will help, nor do I think that banning guns is the sweeping answer. The only way we can stop the deaths of more children is more awareness and support for mental health. I see this in the eyes of students every single day. Some are literally crying out for help. We will realistically never be able to keep a gun out of their hands, but we can help them before they get to an extreme point.
School shooting deaths are actually low. They get media attention because of the anti-gun agenda and the “if it bleeds, it leads” news ethic. Your odds of dying in a school shooting are about the same as being struck by lightning.
If you live in constant fear, it is because of media propaganda, not because of an actual, statistically probable threat to your life. As an educator, I’d hope you have some familiarity with these statistics and not spread panic to the kids and your colleagues.
Mental health is indeed an issue. The media adds to this problem by promoting mass shooters. Shooters become instant celebrities. Kids with mental health issues take note of the shooter’s new found fame and some follow suit. To reduce school shootings we need to change the media coverage of these events.
@ Mistermister…
So the Democrat answer to the threat of a mass shooting is that the defender should be unarmed?
That does not offer much of a deterrent.
Am I correct in assuming everyone is talking about defending against just one shooter?
If that is the case one armed officer may be likely to stop the threat or at least minimize the number of victims.
What will you do if the shooting starts, respond with unarmed counseling?
Good luck with that.
Well, here’s the thing: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The common trend with school shooters is that they were both struggling mentally, and given little to no support. If we can offer aid to those in need BEFORE we see an incident, we will see not only less weapons in schools, but also address the mental health crisis in this country. We have counselors in our schools, but they are incredibly overworked. At my school, there is one counselor to about 500 kids. It’s very easy for students to fall through the cracks. However, the kids they DO manage to reach greatly benefit from their help. The notion that if everyone were armed like the wild west, we’d be safer, is ludicrous. If it were true, shootings would never have happened in places like Texas.
As most of us know, it is ridiculously easy to get a gun in our country, even though we live in a state with tight gun laws. By having an official on campus – who everyone knows is carrying a gun – who is going to be the first victim of the shooter? Why wouldn’t they target that person first? Believe it or not, kids aren’t stupid; they cans size up the adults in their lives very quickly. It won’t be hard for them to recognize this armed individual.
I’m telling you, as someone who works with kids every day, they need to be heard more than they are currently. They need a professional to go to who can see them for more than just a few minutes a week (if they’re lucky). This will make the difference we want to see.
OK, then do both…. if America can afford 87,000 new IRS agents & arm THEM, I’m sure affording at least one armed school guard and additional counselors for each school is possible, in fact it is more important and should take priority!
During the past few years, there would have been a lot fewer mass shootings if the boys who pretended to be girls had been given mental health treatment instead of having everyone catering to their delusions.