The Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee recently approved Senate Bill 383, sponsored by Sen. Don White, R-41st, of Indiana County.

This bill, which would allow school directors to establish a policy for allowing personnel access to firearms in school buildings or on school grounds, would amend the Public School Code of 1949.

Senate Bill 383, which passed the committee with a 9-3 vote, will now go to the full Senate for final approval.

A 2014 Council of State Government Justice Center article titled “Arming Teachers and K-12 School Staff: A Snapshot of Legislative Action” states: “Prior to 2013 state legislative sessions, the National Conference of State Legislatures was not aware of any state laws that specifically authorized teachers or other school staff to carry firearms on K-12 school campuses.”

Of the 33 states that introduced more than 80 bills in 2013 regarding arming teachers and school staff, only seven bills - those in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas - were enacted into law as of November 2013.

“Although these laws vary, it should be noted that they all require teachers or staff who may be armed to either have concealed carry permits or some other type of training or licensure,” the article states.

What do statistical studies on firearm safety and children at home and schools show?

A 2016 Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence article titled “Statistics on Guns in the Home and Safe Storage” states: “A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics regarding adult firearm storage practices found that over 1.69 million American children and minors are living in homes with loaded and unlocked firearms.”

The study also showed 73 percent of children ages 9 and under reported knowing the location of their parents’ firearm and 36 percent admitted they had handled the weapon, including many whose parents had reported their children did not know the location of their firearm.

If children can find loaded firearms in their homes, could they find one in a teacher’s purse, briefcase or desk in the classroom when their teacher is not watching or is out of the room for a brief time?

Even if a teacher were to wear a firearm in a holster, the gun could still go off accidentally, injuring or killing a student or even the teacher.

A 2017 Americanprogress.org article titled “Keeping America’s Schools Safe from Gun Violence” states an elementary teacher in Chambersburg, Franklin County, accidentally left her firearm in a school bathroom, used by children ages 6 to 8, in August 2016.

Four children used the bathroom while the gun was in the bathroom stall.

One student told his parent, who then told the teacher.

Students need a safe environment to learn in, and teachers should not have to deal with the added stress of having to worry about having a loaded firearm in their classroom.

Senate Bill 383 would not ensure students and teachers a safe environment, and it is the wrong bill for Pennsylvania teachers and school personnel.

A March 27 letter addressed to the Senate Education Committee written by Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director, and Yvelisse B. Pelotte, staff attorney, both with Education Law Center in Philadelphia, states: “With 41 years of experience working on school climate issues, we write to oppose SB 383, the bill permitting school personnel to carry concealed firearms in schools.

“While we share your desire to protect students and ensure schools are safe places, arming teachers and other school personnel is not the appropriate way to do so.”

The letter also states: “In 2016, the Joint State Government Commission Advisory Committee issued a report on best practices in school discipline. The report ... does not suggest among its 126 pages that allowing school personnel to carry concealed firearms would accomplish that goal.”

Parkland, Salisbury and East Penn school district superintendents agree with Klehr and Pelotte that arming teachers or school personnel would not keep students safe.

“I prefer our school resource officers being the sole personnel to carry weapons,” Parkland School District Superintendent Richard Sniscak emailed The Press. “They are highly trained in the appropriate use of firearms as part of their daily job responsibilities.”

Randy Ziegenfuss, Ed.D., superintendent with Salisbury Township School District, agrees with Sniscak.

“As a superintendent, I find it hard to understand the problem this legislation is trying to solve,” Ziegenfuss emailed. “I want to know who is carrying a gun on my campus, and that would be limited to police.”

Dr. Michael J. Schilder, superintendent of the East Penn School District, concurs with his fellow superintendents.

“I am opposed to having teachers access firearms on school property,” Schilder said. “The only individuals who should be allowed to carry or access firearms in schools should be trained law enforcement officers. Teachers may be certified to handle the firearm itself, but only police officers are trained to handle the entire situation surrounding a firearm. This bill is a very bad idea that would result in making our students less safe, not more.”

East Penn, Salisbury, Whitehall-Coplay and Northampton Area school districts employ armed school resource officers from local or state police departments and unarmed security guards who travel from school to school throughout the day.

Dr. Lorie D. Hackett, superintendent of schools with Whitehall-Coplay School District, and Joseph Kovalchik, superintendent of schools with Northampton Area School District, commented via email to The Press about having armed resource officers and security guards in the schools.

“We have one school resource officer in the district, and he is located at the high school and is there for the entire school day,” Hackett said. “He does occasionally go to our other buildings if needed.

“He is a Whitehall Township police officer, and therefore he is armed in the same manner as all of the township police officers,” Hackett said.

Kovalchik noted his school district is a bit different than the others in that Northampton has its own police force.

“Northampton Area School District has its own police force - The Northampton Area School District Police Force,” Kovalchik said. “We have two armed police officers stationed at the secondary campus - the high school and middle school.

“The primary focus is the middle school and high school. Our police officers and guards travel to the other buildings throughout the day. This varies from day to day. In addition, we have seven security guards we employee. The seven guards do not carry a weapon.”

Teachers are not doctors. They are not given equipment to perform emergency surgery.

They are not firefighters. If there were to be a fire in a classroom, 911 would be called, the building would be evacuated and trained firefighters would be charged with fighting the fire.

If a situation were to arise during which a firearm were to be needed, the responsibility to handle this falls under the purview of the police.

Contact the state senator in your district - either Pat M. Browne, R-16th, at 610-821-8468, or Lisa Boscola, D-18th, at 610-266-2117, and ask for a vote against Senate Bill 383.

Teachers should be armed with textbooks, so they can educate their students.

Susan Bryant

editorial assistant

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press