Rockville Centre school officials slam idea to allow federal funds to arm teachers

The U.S. Department of Education may give states the option to use federal funds to provide teachers with guns, and local school officials have criticized the plan.

“I could think of a thousand things to purchase to enhance instruction before guns,” said Rockville Centre Schools Superintendent Dr. William Johnson. “. . . I don’t want guns in the schools.”

Several media outlets, citing people familiar with the matter, reported last week that U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was considering the idea. The money would come from Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants, intended for programs in low-performing schools. The program does not explicitly prohibit purchasing weapons with the money.

An Education Department spokeswoman said the agency is “constantly considering and evaluating policy issues,” and does not issue opinions on “hypothetical scenarios.”

DeVos reportedly began mulling the proposal after receiving requests to do so from education officials in Texas and Oklahoma. If the plan were to be approved, it would be the first time that the agency funded gun purchases for educators.

“I can’t imagine ultimately she would approve that,” Johnson said, adding that he sees the measure being challenged in the courts if it were to take effect. “[But] given the nature, I can’t predict what anybody is doing anymore,” he added. “The risk far outweighs the benefit.”

The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, which left 17 people dead and another 17 injured, sparked a nationwide debate about having guns on school grounds. President Trump voiced support for arming teachers that are “firearms adept” and receive annual training, noting in a tweet that it would be “up to states.”

Two weeks after the Florida shooting, the Rockville Centre Board of Education unanimously approved earmarking funds for automated identification readers in district schools so that it can issue photo tags to all visitors, posting security guards in all five elementary schools and adding interior doors to strengthen security. In addition, the district discussed creating anterooms, or spaces that act as extra barriers before visitors are allowed to enter the rest of the building, which are currently being completed in anticipation of the start of the school year.

There are 12 security guards at South Side High School, five at the middle School and one in each elementary school. Each carry “just radios, no weapons,” Johnson said.

“We have no desire to see guns in our schools,” said school board President John O’Shea. “That’s the stand of the board … We are striving to make things more secure and make the environment as safe as possible.”

Police Commissioner James Vafeades noted training sessions that the department has had with the district, including an active-shooter drill at South Side High School in June, and said there were more to come. Police response time to the schools is less than two minutes, according to district officials. “They have an idea of what to expect from us, whether they’re armed or not,” Vafeades said of school personnel. “They know to let us do our job.”

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, spoke out against arming teachers and stood alongside school officials in March to introduce legislation that would allow only law enforcement, security guards and school resource officers to carry firearms. The State Senate voted against the bill.

“We owe it to our children and teachers to keep our schools safe, and supply them with adequate resources to ensure they receive the best education possible,” Kaminsky said in a statement. “DeVos’s asinine proposal to use our tax dollars to arm teachers accomplishes none of these objectives.”

Supplying schools with more educational materials, reinforcing infrastructure and technology and improving support programs for children, he added, are better uses of federal funds than “forcing” teachers to “double as security guards.”

Kaminsky wrote to State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, urging her to prohibit school districts in New York from using federal funds to arm teachers.

Elia and the state’s Regents chancellor, Betty Rosa, called the idea “misguided and dangerous” in a joint statement on Aug. 23. “While nothing is more important than the safety and security of our children, the way to ensure their safety is to focus on social-emotional development and well-being and promoting a positive school climate,” the two said.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran commended the County Police Department and its efforts to implementing in school districts the School Resource Program and the Rave app, which are intended to increase coordination and communication with schools in active-shooter scenarios.

“Both initiatives greatly reduce response times in the event of an incident, and together increase student safety through effective training and real-time communication to first responders,” Curran said. “Every penny of federal grants should go towards our children’s educational enrichment, not towards bringing firearms into their classrooms.”

The Rave app is coming to William S. Covert Elementary School, and the other schools are getting what Johnson called an “enhanced 911 system,” in which the police have access to security cameras to pinpoint where a call within a school is coming from.

District schools receive roughly $300,000 in Title I federal funding, according to Johnson, which they put toward supporting reading and math curriculum. As for Title IV, which gun purchases would fall under, they receive about $8,000, he said, which is currently used for professional development.

“I’m not even sure what guns cost,” Johnson said. “If we’re going to spend that money, we’re spending it on educational activities that are focused on improving the social and emotional well-being of our kids.”