A school district in central Washington state is considering arming some educators and administrators.
The Naches Valley School District is holding a public forum Monday evening at the Naches Valley Middle School, The Yakima Herald-Republic reported.
"Should we allow some of our employees to be trained and armed? We don't have the answer to that yet," Superintendent Duane Lyons said. "But we hope to have that discussion with the community and staff."
The ultimate goal, he said, would be to keep students and staff safe during an emergency. The district looked at arming instructors six years ago, but no action was taken.
Naches officials had been trying to meet with Toppenish and Kiona-Benton school districts since October. The two school districts each have policies allowing some administrators to carry weapons.
Lyons and three school board members met with Toppenish Superintendent John Cerna in December.
"We just talked for a long time; they had a lot of questions," Cerna said.
Teachers in the Yakima area *could soon* be allowed to carry guns in class. TODAY, the Naches Valley School District...
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Having armed staff at the Naches Valley School District makes sense, Cerna said, because of how long it might take law enforcement officials to respond.
"Naches is way out there, so their response time is probably 20 to 30 minutes," he said. "For them it's probably even more critical."
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