The Campbell County School District Board of Trustees is taking the next steps as they consider allowing teachers to carry concealed guns in schools.
District officials reported Tuesday the results of a survey sent out to all district staff that contained one question: What do you think of the district allowing select employees to carry firearms?
A link to the survey was emailed to staff. It was open for a week and closed on Friday, May 24.
More than half of the staff responded to the survey, said Kirby Eisenhauer, deputy superintendent of Campbell County School District. Of those who responded, 58.2 percent of staff said they are for it. Twenty-one percent said they are against it. The rest said they need more information.
The survey also included a comment section. Eisenhauer said at the district's Board of Trustees meeting that those who responded, especially those who voted that they need more information, had two main concerns. Those were the selection process criteria and training expectations for staff.
Eisenhauer said the district will now send out nearly the same survey to the whole community-including parents, students, and residents of the county.
"Our next step is to offer the community a link that they can provide comments from their home or can come in and pick up the form and bring that back. So we're providing the community with another opportunity to give us input on the topic," he said.
Earlier this spring, the district hosted three listening sessions for community feedback on the issue. But now, Eisenhauer said the district wants the community's comments written down.
"We just want to make sure everyone's voice is heard and we give every opportunity for somebody, if they have an opinion on the matter, to give that to us. And this will just be in a written rather than a presentation or testimony at a listening session," he said.
The survey will be released on Monday, June 3 on the school district's website and will be open for the entire month of June.
Eisenhauer said he'll make a recommendation to the board in late fall on whether the district should create a policy or if the district should pursue other safety efforts. Officials from the Board of Trustees said at Tuesday's meeting they plan to vote on the issue in December. Then in the spring, they'll work to craft policies.
Eisenhauer said if the vote in December is in favor of creating a policy to allow district employees to carry concealed firearms, there will be more opportunities for community feedback. Eisenhauer added no decision has been made yet.
