Pam's Interview with 3rd Grade Teacher from the Memorial Elementary School in Burlington MA

Where do you stand on teachers being able to carry guns in school?

          Honestly, I’m opposed to it.  I once read that a teacher makes over 200 decisions an hour that can have hundreds of small effect on their students.  I don’t want carrying a gun to be one of those decisions that I need to make.  I forget where I put my coffee some mornings, so therefore I do not feel that I am responsible enough to have one.  That being said, there are some who I do feel who are qualified to carry them, but I feel that a teacher’s role should be to educate their students.  Protecting your students is also necessary, but not by carrying a gun. We have too many other things to be concerned about.

Do you think that it should be mandatory or a personal choice?

         Personal choice.  The day I am asked to carry a gun will be my last day as a teacher.  I strongly feel that carrying a weapon should not be one of my responsibilities as a classroom teacher.

If you were licensed would you carry a firearm with you in your school?

          No.

 Should students be aware of teachers carrying guns?  Should parents know?

        I think that parents and students have the right to know if their teacher is carrying a gun or if there is any weapon on school grounds.  When our DARE Officers come to the building for the first time, they always tell the students why they carry their gun and why they have it on them in the school – it is part of their uniform and their job as a police officer.  If my child was at a school where a teacher was carrying a gun, I would want to know immediately.

What safety measures does your school take for security?

       All doors are locked at all times, except for the two doors students come in for the morning.  At that time, both doors are manned with at least two staff members.  We have video monitors of all entrances, hallways, and stairwells.  We have a buzzer/monitor system that allows the office staff to buzz people in.  People coming into the building must show ID and sign in.  Every day a police officer does a walk through out building to make sure our school is secure and safe.  Our custodians do walk through 4X a day to make sure all outside doors are secure.  All classroom doors remain locked throughout the day in case there is a need to secure the classroom quickly. (Our school was built in 2011).  Right now there is talk to let the police have access to our video monitors at the police station so they can see in real time what is going on at the entrances/hallways of our schools.

 

 What do you think that schools could do to increase security? 

        I think that we should employ police officers (or like police officers) to patrol the school full time or more regularly.  I think we should have those locks on the classroom doors (sort of like a door stopper) that secures the door shut without needing a key.  Schools should practice drills and have concrete plans in place to keep students safe.  Another idea I have is that both of our school’s day custodians are veterans.  They both fought in battle and are trained to use a weapon.  I would feel 100% comfortable if our two custodians were armed.  They are men who I trust to defend our school and be first responders in an emergency.  Let’s employ these US trained military veterans and have them patrolling the school.  Let them work undercover as custodians or teacher’s assistants and be trained to be first responders.  Studies have shown that stopping an unlikely event at a school is cut down in time when there is a quick response from the police.  Put the police in the building, and you don’t have the travel time to get to the school.

 Do you have a zero tolerance policy in effect?  How strict is it?

      Yes – zero tolerance to Bullying, fighting, weapons, threats, etc.  It is extremely strict.

Do you have lock down and evacuation procedures in place at your school?  How often are these drills practiced?

     Yes – we have had lock down and evacuation procedures in place since the time I started there in August, 2001.  A week after September 11, 2001, we had our first lock down drill.  We practice the evacuation/fire drills at least 4X a year and our lock down drill at least 2X a year.

My thoughts:
I chose to interview this 3rd grade teacher because I wanted to get an idea of where she stands on school violence issues and teachers being able to carry fire arms.  I really like how safe her school is. She is at an advantage because the school is so new that they have such great security measures.  I only hope that it can become present in all schools.  It will take time and be very costly but when updating the school systems putting in video monitors is a great safety measure.  I also liked her idea of having custodians armed.  They know everything there is to know about the school and they are so important to the school community.  I don't think that custodians have to be veterans but they should be trained to be first responders.  I was also happy to hear that her school has a strict zero tolerance policy and that they practice lock down and evacuation plans frequently.
Where we differ is in our opinions on teachers carrying firearms.  I think that it should be allowed but with throughout backgrounds and it should be a personal choice.  Even though we differ on that we share a lot of the similar ideas on how security measures can be increased like having a police officer on duty.  I only hope that more schools get updated security measures like she has at the memorial elementary school in Burlington MA.