Mathias, board get an earful
Mathias, board get an earful
GREG JONES | Staff Writer
gregjones@dailycommercial.com
Before a room packed with reporters, parents and officials, Lake County School Board member Bill Mathias and the rest of the board got some feedback Monday about his proposal to begin arming teachers in the classroom.
Mathias said he began thinking about this after the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., when he developed his "policy for an armed school approach." Although school resource officers are a first line of defense, Miller wanted to open a dialog about other options in case a gunman "took out" one of these officers.
"That doesn't mean (arming teachers) was the only course of action, and it wasn't meant to cause this much excitement," he said.
No board member openly supported the proposal and several speakers opposed it.
Selean Hobbs, a Clermont resident, said teachers have enough responsibilities and don't need any additional duties.
"I'm in opposition to Mr. Mathias' proposal to have the teachers and principals armed with guns," she said. "The reason being the teachers and principals are trained to educate.
"They have a lot on their shoulders already and they are doing a lot with the children, and they are doing things outside the scope of their employment already. I think adding something like this on their plate would be more of a burden to them."
Roy Hunter suggested asking retired law enforcement officers to volunteer their time at school campuses. He said it wouldn't cost the school district any money to get these trained individuals to handle any potential attack on students. Hunter said many retired law enforcement officers have children and grandchildren in local schools.
"I said, 'volunteer,' no money -- volunteer," he said. "Most of them still have their sidearms."
Andy Dubois, who has three grandchildren at Lake Minneola Elementary School, said he supported Mathias' initiative. Dubois, a Howey-in-the-Hills resident, asked the board to give the proposal some thought.
"In my opinion, the only effective way to protect someone from a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun," Dubois said. "I believe we very well may have an effective untapped resource in our school system here in Lake County in the form of willing, responsible teachers, administrators and support staff that would be willing to take on this responsibility."
Mathias previously said no school employee would be forced to carry a gun. They would have to volunteer to do so.
The board did not indicate when or if the gun dialog would be continued.
Friday, January 18, 2013 - www.dailycommercial.com/18jan2013mat