John MacFarlane, a Colorado high school physics teacher, fires his gun during a firearms course for school teachers and administrators in June. | Jason Connolly/AFP/Gety Images In 2 rural states that let teachers carry guns, few schools take part

Officials in rural states like South Dakota and Wyoming told President Donald Trump’s school safety commission on Tuesday that few school districts have taken advantage of state laws there to train and arm teachers.

The lack of participation comes despite a ringing endorsement from the president, who touted the idea of arming trained school staff after the shooting in Parkland, Fla., earlier this year that left 17 people dead.


South Dakota passed a law in 2013 creating the “School Sentinel“ program, becoming one of the first states with legislation explicitly allowing staff to carry guns in public schools in districts that choose to adopt the program. Teachers who want to become sentinels must go through 80 hours of training.

"We always thought — and the argument in the Legislature was — that it would be for those most rural schools, where law enforcement was an hour, half-hour away,” said Mike Milstead, sheriff of Minnehaha County in South Dakota.

As it turns out, one of the only sentinels in the state is stationed at a school in his county that already has a school resource officer, Milstead said.

The law was passed in response to the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six adults were killed.

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Milstead spoke during the third public listening session held by the Federal Commission on School Safety, which was launched by the White House after the Florida school shooting.

The commission is chaired by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who was absent from Tuesday's session. She was represented by her deputy, Mick Zais.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and HHS Secretary Alex Azar are also on the White House panel but were represented by other agency officials as well.

The listening session was in Wyoming, where state legislators passed a law last year allowing school districts to train and arm teachers if they choose.

Wyoming and South Dakota are among a handful of states that let school districts decide whether to let teachers carry guns. For example, Texas launched a program in 2013 to train and arm “school marshals.” The state has nearly 1,300 school districts, but it’s estimated that just a few dozen have armed marshals.

The Wyoming law also came at the urging of rural school districts, concerned they wouldn’t have readily available law enforcement protection. Jillian Balow, Wyoming’s elected state superintendent of schools, told federal officials that the law “wasn’t taken lightly.”

But in April, Park County School District 6 in Cody, Wyo., became just the second of the state’s 48 school districts to adopt the policy. It was the same school district where DeVos famously suggested in her confirmation hearing that schools may need guns to protect against potential grizzly bears.

Despite low participation, state and local officials in South Dakota and Wyoming said it’s important that school districts can make up their own minds about whether to arm teachers. Milstead said there’s been “renewed interest” in South Dakota’s program following the Florida school shooting.

“The role of schools has changed over the years as tragedies like Parkland have become more pronounced and safety as part of what we do as educators is nonnegotiable,” Balow said.

Federal officials on Tuesday didn’t explicitly endorse the notion of arming teachers. The White House school safety panel also traveled to Arkansas last week, where Sessions visited a school district that has embraced arming school staff.

He said states and school districts should have the "flexibility and discretion" to "decide how to handle these situations."

Sessions also said anyone who carries a gun in school for student protection deserves respect.

"We have people who say, 'I don't want to carry a gun in a school,'" he said. "But the person who does is going by themselves into a very dangerous situation, not knowing what's behind that door, and we expect them and ask them to place their lives on the line for students. They know that when they sign up, and we should always be respectful and appreciative of their service."