The “thank you, sir; may I have another?” tour is over and the School Board has made the decision to not implement the Sheriff’s STOMP program, but rather, to hire the school’s own armed security staff.
It was a previously undiscussed option that appeased some and disappointed many. Here is what the new program is: a start.
1- It complies with the new school safety law passed by the legislature
2- It puts an armed person in every school under the board’s jurisdiction
3- It requires the same background screening and training as the guardian program
4- And, it opens the door to providing real, necessary security in the future.
While one armed defender per school is a good start, it is not nearly enough to effectively address an active shooter. To be adequate it would take at least 3 or 4 of these people to be close to effectively being there as an incident began.
But it is a start and we’ll take it.