Two Campbell County School Board members are urging district employees who are permitted to carry concealed weapons on campus to receive a $500 stipend.
In July, the board approved training and a psychological evaluation for educators and other district staff who wish to carry a concealed firearm on school grounds. This came after a state law, which went into effect on July 1, banned “gun-free zones” in government buildings.
Melanie Sylte, District Human Resources Manager, stated that the district has already received applications from staff members for concealed carry on campus.
The number of applicants and their identities will be kept private, except for the board’s Armed Educator Committee, which reviews the applicants, law enforcement, and the educator’s supervisor.
Parents will not be notified if an educator at their child’s school is carrying a gun, only that the district has armed staff members.
At the district’s Armed Educator Committee meeting this month, trustees discussed paying educators who sign up for the training — 24 hours of live-fire handgun training and eight hours of scenario-based training — their regular daily pay, as they do for other “professional development” training days.
At Tuesday’s regular board meeting, trustees Mary Brunner and Tim Hallinan expressed their appreciation to teachers who choose to carry firearms in their classrooms.
“I think that’s an obligation that probably a lot of us would never even consider,” says Hallinan. “Pretty tough, when there’s some danger, and I think that they need to have a little bit of extra compensation for that.”
Other board members expressed concern about incentivizing district employees to carry concealed.
“I appreciate this discussion, but I … feel like this creates a bit of a perverse incentive,” Mr. Christensen said. “I think that if you want to do this, you do it, I think that paying someone to do it is different.”
Christensen went on to say that, while the “gun-free zone” ban went into effect in the middle of the summer, he hopes that in the future, educators who want to carry concealed will receive training during the summer months rather than interrupting instruction time.
Brunner believed the training requirement was high enough to deter educators from applying solely for the stipend.
“I would feel that way as well if we weren’t requiring the training, the time away from the job and the exception that they will have to engage an active shooter,” Brunner told the crowd. “I believe we’re expecting another level from employees.”
Superintendent Alex Ayers expressed concern about incentivizing staff to go through the armed educator process, but added that the $500 stipend was not enough to be concerning.
“I do think we don’t want to heavily financially incentivize folks doing this, they’re doing it for the right reasons,” Ayers told the press. “I think the $500 is a reasonable consideration.”
Ayers and board chairman Lisa Durgin agreed to return to the discussion at the next board meeting and possibly make a motion.
