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Harrold school district's gun policy violates law, group says
By MARK AGEE
rmagee@star-telegram.com
Attorneys for a Washington, D.C.-based gun-control advocacy group have the tiny school district of Harrold in their sights.
The 110-student district, 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth near Wichita Falls, made international news last week with a new policy that allows teachers to carry handguns if they have a state permit and permission from the district. The move appears to be unprecedented.
But the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says school officials may be violating state law.
"When I first read about this, I couldn’t believe it was legal," said Marsha McCartney, president of the Texas chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "It turns out it wasn’t."
Harrold Superintendent David Thweatt didn’t return a phone call late Tuesday, but he has said that the district researched the idea for a year before presenting it to trustees. He has also said he is confident in the legality of the policy.
The change was necessary because his school is 30 minutes from the closest law enforcement agency, the Wilbarger County Sheriff’s Department, leaving students unprotected, he said.
Gov. Rick Perry endorsed the concept of Harrold’s policy at a news conference Monday, citing mass shootings he said could have been stopped if the victims had been armed. He cited the training required before a Harrold teacher or staff member can be approved to carry a gun as a factor that should alleviate concerns.
The legal issues
Texas criminal law prohibits firearms at schools "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution."
That is the section of law that Harrold officials cited when discussing the policy.
Brady Center lawyers cite a section of the education code that could cloud the issue.
It reads, "If a board of trustees authorizes a person employed as security personnel to carry a weapon, the person must be a commissioned peace officer."
Cheryl Mehl, an Austin attorney who represents Harrold, said that statute does not apply in this instance.
"It says that’s the case if they are employed as a security personnel," she said. "These are not security personnel. Those are teachers who are just helping to make sure the school is a safer place."
Mehl said the issue is a matter of local control and "within the board’s authority."
"The Legislature has empowered them to govern and set policies as they see fit," she said.
Brady lawyers also said the policy is simply a bad idea.
"One of the reasons our nation’s K-12 schools are far safer than surrounding areas of society is because firearms are very tightly regulated on school property," a memo from the lawyers to the Texas chapter states. It cites federal data showing that children are safer at school than elsewhere. "It is a myth that gun-free schools increase the dangers to our children."
Local schools
Tarrant County school districts prohibit guns unless they are carried by police.
Fort Worth, Arlington, Birdville, Carroll, Grapevine-Colleyville and Hurst-Euless-Bedford have arrangements with police departments to provide school resource officers.
"You cannot bring a gun onto school property whether you’re staff, a teacher or administrator regardless of whether you have a conceal-carry license," said Clint Bond, a spokesman for the Fort Worth district. "The only people who are authorized to carry weapons on our campuses, in school district facilities, are police."
Texas districts can operate their own police departments, as Mansfield and Aledo do.
"With [Harrold’s] particular situation, being in a rather remote area, I’m sure they just don’t have the funding to have a full-time police department," said Mike Leyman, the Mansfield district’s police chief. "I think each school district has to make decisions on what’s best for them, and I guess this is the Harrold district’s approach."
Most area teachers would oppose a policy that encouraged them to carry guns at school, said Larry Shaw, director of the United Educators Association. The group represents 16,000 teachers in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.
"I think it would scare teachers to death," he said. "One, it’s too much responsibility. And there’s also the possibility of accidents."
Staff writers Traci Shurley, Matt Frazier, Jessamy Brown, Shirley Jinkins and Eva-Marie Ayala contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.
[line]
School violence The rates at which teenagers were victimized by crime, both violent and nonviolent, declined both at and away from school between 1992 and 2005.
Fourteen homicides at school were reported in 2005-06, the latest year for which data was available.
About one homicide or suicide of a youth at school occurs per 3.2 million students.
Students are about 50 times more likely to be a homicide victim at nonschool events.
Source: Education Department
Comments can be left.
http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/844988.html
Harrold school district's gun policy violates law, group says
By MARK AGEE
rmagee@star-telegram.com
Attorneys for a Washington, D.C.-based gun-control advocacy group have the tiny school district of Harrold in their sights.
The 110-student district, 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth near Wichita Falls, made international news last week with a new policy that allows teachers to carry handguns if they have a state permit and permission from the district. The move appears to be unprecedented.
But the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says school officials may be violating state law.
"When I first read about this, I couldn’t believe it was legal," said Marsha McCartney, president of the Texas chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "It turns out it wasn’t."
Harrold Superintendent David Thweatt didn’t return a phone call late Tuesday, but he has said that the district researched the idea for a year before presenting it to trustees. He has also said he is confident in the legality of the policy.
The change was necessary because his school is 30 minutes from the closest law enforcement agency, the Wilbarger County Sheriff’s Department, leaving students unprotected, he said.
Gov. Rick Perry endorsed the concept of Harrold’s policy at a news conference Monday, citing mass shootings he said could have been stopped if the victims had been armed. He cited the training required before a Harrold teacher or staff member can be approved to carry a gun as a factor that should alleviate concerns.
The legal issues
Texas criminal law prohibits firearms at schools "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution."
That is the section of law that Harrold officials cited when discussing the policy.
Brady Center lawyers cite a section of the education code that could cloud the issue.
It reads, "If a board of trustees authorizes a person employed as security personnel to carry a weapon, the person must be a commissioned peace officer."
Cheryl Mehl, an Austin attorney who represents Harrold, said that statute does not apply in this instance.
"It says that’s the case if they are employed as a security personnel," she said. "These are not security personnel. Those are teachers who are just helping to make sure the school is a safer place."
Mehl said the issue is a matter of local control and "within the board’s authority."
"The Legislature has empowered them to govern and set policies as they see fit," she said.
Brady lawyers also said the policy is simply a bad idea.
"One of the reasons our nation’s K-12 schools are far safer than surrounding areas of society is because firearms are very tightly regulated on school property," a memo from the lawyers to the Texas chapter states. It cites federal data showing that children are safer at school than elsewhere. "It is a myth that gun-free schools increase the dangers to our children."
Local schools
Tarrant County school districts prohibit guns unless they are carried by police.
Fort Worth, Arlington, Birdville, Carroll, Grapevine-Colleyville and Hurst-Euless-Bedford have arrangements with police departments to provide school resource officers.
"You cannot bring a gun onto school property whether you’re staff, a teacher or administrator regardless of whether you have a conceal-carry license," said Clint Bond, a spokesman for the Fort Worth district. "The only people who are authorized to carry weapons on our campuses, in school district facilities, are police."
Texas districts can operate their own police departments, as Mansfield and Aledo do.
"With [Harrold’s] particular situation, being in a rather remote area, I’m sure they just don’t have the funding to have a full-time police department," said Mike Leyman, the Mansfield district’s police chief. "I think each school district has to make decisions on what’s best for them, and I guess this is the Harrold district’s approach."
Most area teachers would oppose a policy that encouraged them to carry guns at school, said Larry Shaw, director of the United Educators Association. The group represents 16,000 teachers in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.
"I think it would scare teachers to death," he said. "One, it’s too much responsibility. And there’s also the possibility of accidents."
Staff writers Traci Shurley, Matt Frazier, Jessamy Brown, Shirley Jinkins and Eva-Marie Ayala contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.
[line]
School violence The rates at which teenagers were victimized by crime, both violent and nonviolent, declined both at and away from school between 1992 and 2005.
Fourteen homicides at school were reported in 2005-06, the latest year for which data was available.
About one homicide or suicide of a youth at school occurs per 3.2 million students.
Students are about 50 times more likely to be a homicide victim at nonschool events.
Source: Education Department
Comments can be left.
http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/844988.html
