District announces new measures to keep students safe
(Marion) — To help provide more safety and security, the Marion ISD will be arming its teachers and staff for the upcoming school year. Marion ISD Superintendent Don Beck says the district’s participation in the DPS Active Shooter Response Guardian Program will be the most significant change for the area district as it welcomes back students today. Beck says the program which gives staff a quicker response to serious threats, such as having an active shooter on campus was a decision based on community input.
“We polled our community last year as well as our staff about whether or not having teachers on campus who are armed and whether that is something that they would want to do. So, after polling the community as well as staff, ultimately, we decided that we would move forward with what’s called The Guardian Program. Several smaller districts around the Seguin area already use that procedure in order to arm staff for an extra layer of protection so going into (this year), there will be some signs up that parents and community are going to see that say that there is armed staff on campus. That’s something brand new this year that we are rolling out. Everybody has been trained. Everybody has met the requirements that the state of Texas requires — a license to carry,” said Beck.
The program which was the result of legislative action and supported by Governor Greg Abbott is already reporting an increased number of school districts who are choosing to “opt-in” for this program due to a rise in gun violence inside schools not only nationwide but throughout the state.
Beck says allowing the program in the Marion ISD will help cover the basis in ensuring students and staff remain safe at all times.
“Part of House Bill 3 was requiring that every campus have an armed individual like a cop of some sort. Looking at that, we currently already have three SROs (School Resource Officer). We would have had to I believe gone to five and so having the Guardian Program in place, we are able to meet the requirements from the state in order to still maintain our three SROs who do a fantastic job for our district but as well as provide that extra layer for quick time response for our kids,” said Beck.
Due to anonymity, Beck, of course, couldn’t provide who or how many armed staff would be present each school day. He did, however, say each campus would provide the necessary messaging and warning for anyone who walks into their buildings.
“We were pretty proactive on getting that stuff taken care of before the school year but the biggest change has been the Guardian Program and that’s when people are going to see those signs and they just need to be aware of that there are staff on campus and it’s not everybody but we do have staff that have been trained to be able to carry,” said Beck.
In addition to the Guardian Program, the Marion ISD has worked steadily over the summer putting up fences and other safety tools to safeguard its campuses.
Another change in the Marion ISD this school year will result in a bonus for the Class of 2024.
The school bell will also run an additional five minutes for Marion ISD secondary students. Beck says the additional minutes will allow for its seniors to not only finish school but graduate one week earlier. He says the last day of class for seniors will be Friday, May 17th followed by graduation on Saturday, the 18th. All other students, pre-k through 11th grade, will continue school until Friday, May 24.