BULLHEAD CITY, AZ — There may be armed teachers, staff and even people from the community on school grounds in one northwest Arizona district.
The Colorado River Union High School District has almost 2,000 students, and its policy is not in many, if any, school districts in the state.
The board passed the policy in June on a 3 to 2 vote, and since then, ABC15 has reached out to the board and superintendent multiple times over the phone and email to get more information on how this policy is being implemented but did not receive a response other than referring to a press release.
“I actually think it’s a great idea. As long as they take the proper tests and make sure they’re okay to handle themselves, I mean, all we want is our kids to be safe,” said Monique Nevarez, a mom of a Mohave High School student.
Heath Barker, another parent of students at Mohave High School, said he’s also supportive of the policy.
“If the state isn't doing what they can do to protect their students, then they leave it in the hands of our local folks to take care of,” Barker said.
A majority of the parents ABC15 spoke with said they do support the policy, but they’re still wondering how it’s being implemented and what the policies are.
One mom, however, said she pulled her kids out of the school district because of this policy.
“My primary worry stems from the potential risks involved, such as the possibility of students attempting to disarm teachers or the uncertainty surrounding the teacher’s ability to handle firearms safely and effectively,” said Roxy, who did not want to provide her last name.
Another woman, who has a parent who works in the district, said the policy is “extremely worrying.” Though she wants protection for her parent, other staff and the kids, she feels this is not the right step for protection.
“To me, allowing for the presence of weapons on campus would only increase the likelihood that a gun-related issue could occur on school grounds. I can imagine any number of ways an accident or even intentional problem could arise,” she said, not wanting her name to be published for fear of retaliation against her parent.
For the last several weeks since the policy was passed, ABC15 tried reaching the board and district with questions about how the policy is being handled. With no responses from the district other than a press release saying no more questions would be answered, ABC15 attended the board meeting on Monday night to ask questions in person. Still, they would not provide any information, regardless that some parents still have questions about it.
“A lot of this is discussion in executive session only,” board member Richard Cardone said Monday night.
“I have no comment to those questions,” said Carey Fearing, the board president.
ABC15 also approached Superintendent Tim Richard, asking for comment regarding the policy. He referred to the press release. When ABC15 said community members had questions, he said they can come to him with questions.
The district put up signs across its campuses, saying its staff “may be armed.”
But, it’s also not just staff.
The approved policy also allows members of the public to be armed if they have a concealed carry weapons permit and approval from the superintendent.
“A concealed weapon permit, you… can't be a felon. You have all these criteria you have to meet. If you don't meet them, you can't have a concealed weapon permit,” Cardone said in an April meeting. “So, all I'm saying is that there's American patriots out there that want to carry guns.”
Barker said while he is in favor of school staff carrying on campus, he is against allowing members of the public to be armed on school grounds.
“I shoot regularly. I don’t shoot [competitively], but I do shoot a couple of times a month. I conceal carry… I’m not trained to shoot around [the] civilian population if there’s an issue. I conceal carry in the case of an emergency to protect my family. I wouldn’t be okay with allowing folks to carry weapons on the campus. I think that’s just a recipe for problems,” Barker said.
Out of five board members, two did vote against the policy in June.
Board member Nancy Mongeau told ABC15 Monday night that she’s okay with staff being armed but not the general public.
“It's too much homework that we still need to do to find out how to safely do this, and I think, have you talked to the superintendent?” she asked ABC15.
“I tried talking to the superintendent and he told me he had no comment,” ABC15 responded.
“Then I can’t say anymore. That is the truth,” Mongeau responded.
From the board meeting in April, in an approximately 30-minute long discussion, members went back and forth about getting feedback from teachers and about the policy itself as well as allowing the general public to carry on campus.
Board member Mongeau wanted to get more feedback from teachers on the policy, adding that she heard from some teachers who said they would leave the district. It’s unclear if any have left, as ABC15 could not ask any questions.
Board member Cardone responded to Mongeau’s request on possibly sending out a survey.
“We don't send surveys out for everything. I mean, we're the person we were elected, we were elected to make tough decisions, not to make these easy decisions,” he said.
So, what qualifications need to be met? It was laid out in the April board meeting.
The superintendent can give “special consideration” to employees who have been honorably discharged from the military or if the employee retired from law enforcement. The employee must also be with the district for at least a year and should have a good evaluation rating with the school. The person should not have any discipline records for any violations in previous years.
They must also have a concealed weapons permit, which also appears to be the only requirement for a member of the public, other than getting the superintendent’s approval.
“If some lunatic school shooter tries to kill one of our kids during the school day or at an extracurricular event, our employees and community members have a God-given constitutional right to defend themselves,” Superintendent Tim Richard said in the June board meeting.
It is still unclear how many people are approved to be armed on campus, if there are any. It is also still unknown what the defined role is for armed staff if there’s an emergency or even how much training these staff members will get. District officials refused to provide any specifics.
“If someone tries to shoot one of our innocent kids, they need to know we are ready to send them straight to hell,” Superintendent Richard said in the June board meeting.
ABC15 also reached out to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office regarding the policy. They said they could not comment on the potential legality of it, however, in the board meetings, the district referred to a state statute 15-341 (A,23) that says:
“The governing board shall… prescribe and enforce policies and procedures that prohibit a person from carrying or possessing a weapon on school grounds unless the person is a peace officer or has obtained specific authorization from the school administrator.”
