Mesa County’s District 51 Schools Taking Precautionary Steps in School Safety

Last night, members of District 51 Schools Board of Education met to discuss safety in schools. They  discussed issues from teachers being armed to volunteer security guards.

Also at the meeting was retired Police Chief Rich Bacher proposed implementing armed and/or unarmed volunteers in schools.  These volunteers would be in plain clothes in order to disguise them from looking like a Police officer. Last night Bacher said "You know the financial burdens to the school district the financial burdens to a community. you know I understand that so what I am throwing out and offering up you know maybe people within the community who have the proper credentials, training background integrity and can pass the scrutiny are physically capable and are willing to dedicate their time."

They also discussed if it would be necessary to have armed teachers at each school. The District would train some teachers in gun safety and the teachers would be armed at all times. Individuals would be trained on gun safety with children and how to react to a situation if one arises.

District 51 plans on putting a small work group together to discuss and implement some of the issues brought up in last nights meeting. Board members say members of the work group would be retired officers, community members and parents.

The District says that when it comes to safety and implementing their strategies, they are putting the children's safety first, but some steps must be taken to avoid any tragedy from happening here.