Lumberton ISD to arm teachers with guns

Here's a look at some recent U.S. school shootings, and some of the deadliest of years past. Here's a look at some recent U.S. school shootings, and some of the deadliest of years past. Photo: Mike Stocker, MBO Photo: Mike Stocker, MBO Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Lumberton ISD to arm teachers with guns 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Following the Santa Fe High School shooting less than 150 miles from Lumberton, where three students were arrested in separate incidents for alleged threats this past school year, the school district has decided to join a handful of Southeast Texas schools arming teachers and staff.

"Once, our job was to look at curriculum," said superintendent Gerald Chandler. "Now we have to look at the safety of our schools and ensuring our students can come here to a safe and secure environment."

The Lumberton ISD Board of Education adopted the Guardian Plan last month, clearing the way for designated employees to carry firearms on school grounds, board president James Kersh announced at the Thursday evening community school safety meeting.

RELATED: SETX districts may start monitoring students' social media for threats

The school board will select a group of people to undergo background and psychological checks, work with law enforcement and receive training specific to active shooter events, according to Kersh.

"For security reasons, we are not able to give specific details regarding our school safety plan," Chandler said. "If we release that information, that makes us a vulnerable risk."

Gretchen Scoggins, Lumberton's coordinator for special programs, said the district hasn't yet determined how many staff members will be armed, partly because it depends on interest.

Lumberton ISD will continue to have school resources officers or peace officers patrol campuses along with Lumber-ton Police Department officers, Scoggins said.

Comprehensive training for all staff members will be conducted by Rob Flores, former BISD police chief and an incoming Lumberton High School criminal justice teacher.

Flores' training includes the philosophy of active shooters and tactical responses to be used during incidents, according to Chandler. Staff also will be trained in the national Stop the Bleed program to equip them to provide medical assistance if needed, he said.

"We've been taking this seriously for a couple of years now. This isn't something that just came up because of Parkland or Santa Fe," said Kersh.

This past school year, two Lumberton Middle School students were arrested for threatening classmates. Lumberton Police Chief Danny Sullins reported in May that an eighth-grader was arrested for making a terroristic threat.

In early March, a seventh-grader was arrested after threatening a school shooting. The student said he was "mad at everyone and hates everyone" and said he was going to shoot people at Lumberton Middle School, Sullins said in a March 8 interview.

Last December, a Lumberton High School student was arrested after a hit list was discovered in the student's belongings, according to previous Enterprise reporting.

Under the School Marshal Plan, an alternative to the Guardian Plan, school boards can designate one or more school employees as a school marshal. The school marshal must obtain a concealed handgun license and complete 80 hours of training from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. As a certified peace officer, the school marshal has the authority to make arrests.

The Guardian Plan has greater flexibility and fewer training requirements, leaving specifications largely up to individual school districts as long as the requirements are in compliance with existing laws, according to the documents from the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety.

While both the Guardian and School Marshal plans offer schools "two methods of dealing with the first line of defense," Kersh said Lumberton chose the Guardian Plan because it was "the most effective in dealing with school shootings."

"The thing is, at the end of the day ... you're having to protect from the inside," Kersh said. "Most of the perpetrators in these shootings are also in the same group that you are bound to protect, so you don't know who they are."

Orangefield ISD opted to implement both the Guardian and School Marshal plans in April, according to superintendent Stephen Patterson, making the Orange County schools the first Southeast Texas school district to use marshals.

High Island ISD and West Hardin County CISD have already opted into the Guardian Program, according to previous Enterprise reporting.

"The attacks have changed over time so your responses have to change over time," Kersh said.

In addition to training staff on security and health measures, including CPR and AED training, the district is also addressing the issue of student safety from the technological side "which can play into the physical safety of our students," said Mary Johnson, director of digital learning services.

Students "come to school with a weapon every single day," Johnson said, pointing to her cell phone.

Each Lumberton student has received instruction on "digital citizenship" and earned a certification from Common Sense education, a national nonprofit dedicated to "harness(ing) the power of social media and technology as a positive force."

The Common Sense curriculum covers topics such as cyberbullying, privacy and social media guidelines.

"Whereas we have a huge concern of the physical safety of our students, I want you to know ... we're also working on that aspect of it as well," she said.

For Flores, "active shooter training is training for the worst case scenario."

"That type of training — let's say hypothetically there's a hundred dominoes set up — that's the hundredth domino to fall," said Flores.

"We're focusing heavily on that but also need that comprehensive program that's going to focus on domino one through 99."

Phoebe.Suy@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/PhoebeSuy