Iowa School Starts Arming Its Teachers

A school in Sioux City, Iowa, has told parents that it is now arming teachers so they can actively respond to a gunman in the event of a school shooting.

In a letter from Siouxland Christian School, published in full by local news channel KTIV on January 6, superintendent Lindsay Laurich said armed staff "are trained to go directly to the threat" and would "allow teachers and students to get to safe positions and will provide an active response until law enforcement is able to arrive."

It came just days after a deadly shooting elsewhere in the state. Two people—including the principal—were killed and six others injured after gunfire broke out at Perry High School. Authorities identified 17-year-old student Dylan Butler as the shooter, who also died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

Laurich referenced the shooting in Perry in her letter, writing that it was "an unfortunate reality that schools have become the target of those who wish to do evil."

Arming schoolteachers has been a suggestion made numerous times in the wake of often deadly school shootings. Proponents such as National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre have argued that "to stop a bad guy with a gun, it takes a good guy with a gun."

However, critics say that school shootings serve as a sobering example of why greater restrictions on access to guns is needed, while teachers are often opposed to policies that would see them armed.

The National Education Association, which represents school staff, said in 2018 that a greater volume of deadly weapons in schools would make accidents, and potential fatalities, more likely. "Our students need more books, art and music programs, nurses and school counselors; they do not need more guns in their classrooms," then-NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said.

Newsweek approached Laurich via email for further comment on Thursday.

Laurich wrote that the armed staff at Siouxland Christian School had been selected and trained with "input from law enforcement, our insurance carrier, legal advisors and industry experts," and that administrators had been working on the policy for a year before implementing it. She added that the staff would remain anonymous.

Laurich told parents that the decision to arm staff had been "a difficult one," but in the event a shooting were to occur at the school, "I need to be able to stand in front of you and say that we have done all that we can do. This is a necessary step we must take."

"Teachers and children should not be afraid to come to school," she added. "We must employ all of the tools and resources at our disposal in order to be prepared for worst case scenarios."

Siouxland Christian School is thought not to be the only school to have armed teachers. As of 2018, at least 170 school districts in Texas, including Harrold Independent School District, have implemented policies to arm educators and staff, according to The Texas Tribune.

A school in Ohio has also reportedly done so, while Florida legislators considered a law in 2018 to train 37,000 educational staff across the state.

Arming staff in private institutions like Siouxland Christian School is an easier process as they do not require the approval of local lawmakers, as public schools do.