KIMBERLY, Idaho — The Kimberly School District has finalized a policy that allows teachers and staff to carry concealed firearms as a protective measure against potential active shooters, with extensive training requirements now in place.
The policy was approved last year, but details surrounding the program needed to be completed before qualified educators could arm themselves.
Kimberly Superintendent Luke Schroeder said the decision to allow armed educators into school buildings is based on data showing the critical importance of response time during school shooting incidents.
HEAR FROM THE SCHOOL HOW THE POLICY WILL WORK
"The rationale behind this is— this is just the last ditch effort," Schroeder said.
According to Schroeder, data from school shootings shows that once a shooter enters a building, someone is shot every 4.7 seconds.
"If we could delay that shooter by five seconds, we possibly just avoided someone getting shot. 15 seconds is three people," Schroeder said. "Unfortunately, and this is what I always say— we have enough data from school shootings that we can start making data-driven decisions."
The armed staff program supplements existing security measures already in place at Kimberly schools, including secure single entries, cameras, hard-to-shatter glass, even mental health support, counseling, and staff training.
The district has established an extensive authorization process that includes physical training, weapons proficiency testing, and use of deadly force training before staff can seek approval from the school board to carry a firearm.
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"From there, they have an additional 40 hours of training before they're allowed to carry. Once they're allowed to carry, then it is qualification twice a year with their firearm, and then a minimum of 16 hours of ongoing training," Schroeder explained.
The district credits Xavier Charter School in Twin Falls for pioneering such policies in the Magic Valley region. Xavier adopted its armed staff policy in 2018, becoming the first school in the area to implement such measures.
Gary Moon from Xavier Charter School said they regularly receive positive feedback from parents about their security measures.
"We have families coming to look at our school as a possible location for their students, and they see the signage we have on the front of the building, and I'd say we only get positive comments about that," Moon said.
"We felt like we did all our homework and came up with a good policy, and it is gratifying to see other schools doing the same thing," Moon added.
While the identities of armed staff members remain confidential, Schroeder confirmed that several district employees are currently authorized to carry firearms on campus.
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