There's one thing the MSM never asks people like the parent who is worried the FASTER training given to the staff is inadequate, and that is what in their opinion is adequate training? Most of the people I've seen and heard who say such things barely know enough about firearms to know what end of the gun the bullet comes out of. Almost every one of the people I've talked to that espouses this view when asked has no clue as to what adequate training is for school staff, only that
A: whatever number of hours they're getting isn't enough, or
B: it isn't several hundred hours of police academy training. It doesn't dawn on these people or they know but don't care that the police academy teaches far more things than firearms usage, and that a LEO's use of a firearm goes beyond defending themselves in a classroom.
Here are some of the reasons the volunteers gave for volunteeringThe court challenge came in response to a gun policy that was passed about a year ago in response to a 2016 shooting at Madison Jr./Sr. High School, where a student injured four of his classmates. A group of parents sued the district last September seeking an injunction blocking the district from arming teachers and other staff without the training required of law enforcement officials — 728 hours versus the 26 hours the school has in its policy — and a court order requiring disclosure of policies and procedures for arming staff.
Erin Gabbard, the lead plaintiff, read documents — including depositions taken with the three armed staff and administrators — released recently after the school district won the lawsuit.
“I think we all felt helpless three years ago and we don’t want to feel that way again, no one on either side of this,” Gabbard told the Journal-News. “I think we can’t ignore the real safety risks that come with bringing guns into the classroom with such inadequate training.
“I think our kids, and our staff and the parents in this district deserve a more comprehensive, thorough and thoughtful policy.”
School Board President David French in his deposition said that, given the remote location of the schools, the board needed more protection options. He said officials added another school resource officer after the shooting, but that day proved how vulnerable the staff and students are.
“These teachers put their lives on the line. We had one teacher, didn’t know what was going on, he locked his doors. He didn’t know if it was a group of armed people or what,” French testified. “He’s a coach. He passed out his duffel bags. Said kids, if someone comes through this door, I’ll protect you at all cost. And he gave them baseball bats. That’s all he had in (his) control. That’s it.”
“I can remember thinking to myself, you know, here I am, the only thing standing between these kids, and I really just had a textbook in my hands. And I just was, like, this is not a fair fight, “ John Doe No. 3 testified. “All I could think of was that I have 25 other lives behind me, and what am I supposed to do with a book?”
John Doe No. 1’s students were having lunch in the cafeteria where the shooting occurred. He was in his classroom about 200 yards away with one student serving lunch detention.
“We were basically told to hide and hope for the best. That’s the lockdown,” he said. “Teachers are not allowed to do anything except hold a book, throw things.”