OISD preps for Guardian program
The Olney Independent School District has and continues to provide training for staff members to carry concealed firearms as a step toward implementing a state program that allows schools to have armed defenders on campus in the event of an active shooter situation, Superintendent Dr. Greg Roach said on Aug 26.
The training is the first step for staff members to participate in the Texas School Guardian program, which is administered by the Texas Department of Public Safety and requires those who qualify to take the class to have their state license to carry. The staff members will receive ongoing training and will be evaluated by the OISD Board of Trustees and Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck, who is conducting part of the training, Dr. Roach said.
“The board is going to have to decide the list of all the criteria that are involved with this,” he said. “They will decide what campuses, how many [Guardians], proficiency with firearms, training, background checks, psychological evaluations. The board will make those decisions on who actually will be designated a school guardian.”
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The identities of the Guardians will be kept confidential, as will the district’s safety plans, Dr. Roach said. “I hope to get this fleshed out and completely laid in by the end of the school year but we are going to make sure there is due diligence and we’ve done this correctly because this is kind of big. Guns are a big thing,” he said.
Staff members qualified to apply for their state license to carry after completing six hours of classroom by a certified instructor and an advanced shooting test on a gun range, he said.
“After the LTC portion of the class concluded, we took over and provided additional training on building basic shooting skills, including weapons presentation, sight alignment, trigger and recoil control, weapon manipulation, shot cadence and target transition, to name a few,” Chief Birbeck said. “All of the things that go with building safe shooting skills.”
Chief Birbeck said he will continue working with the Guardian applicants and will conduct active shooter drills with all school staff in coming months. OISD also commissioned a campus safety evaluation by security consultant Danny Deffenbaugh to identify vulnerabilities.
“It’s heightening the awareness of the staff that is not a part of the Guardian Program to make sure doors are locked and attention [is paid] to surroundings,” he said. “They are taking measures to make sure the classrooms are set up for success in case of something bad happening,” Chief Birbeck said.
COVID sidelined OISD’s Guardian training three years ago, Dr. Roach said. “We were easing into the process when COVID shut everything down. We have a good Chief of Police and are now able to resume the process. We now have the communitywide resources we need to do this: places to shoot, people to train. We are working together to do this now. And there is a singular focus on it - just keeping kids safe.”
Chief Birbeck, who conducts active shooter training at businesses and law enforcement agencies throughout the region, said the Uvalde school shootings in May created “a resurgence in awareness” of school safety issues.
“The culture of security is shifting on campus we are getting more buy-in from staff members,” he said.
The Guardian training “is going to add a whole new level of preparedness for these staff members,” Chief Birbeck said. “They are able to cope and respond accordingly. Of course with repetition the more skilled they will become.”