 - The Dubois School Board reviewed a draft policy this week setting rules for employees and volunteers who carry concealed weapons on school property.){kind=link}
(Dubois, WY) – The Dubois School Board reviewed a draft policy this week setting rules for employees and volunteers who carry concealed weapons on school property.
School officials wrote the draft policy after the Wyoming Legislature passed a new law this spring allowing people with state-issued concealed carry permits to carry concealed weapons at government meetings, public schools, and public colleges or universities in the state.
The new law lets local school boards adopt rules and regulations governing employees and volunteers who lawfully carry concealed weapons on school property.
Draft policy
The draft policy the Dubois School Board reviewed this week says employees and volunteers who wish to carry concealed weapons on school property must first submit an application to the school board.
“The board, in its sole and absolute discretion, may approve, deny, or approve with conditions such application, for any reason, based on the board’s determination of what is in the best interests of the school district,” the draft policy states.
The draft policy also says the board “may limit the number of persons who carry firearms within the school district or within a school.”
Employees and volunteers who wish to carry firearms on school property must receive training from instructors who meet certain qualifications, the draft policy states, and the school district will “put out a request for candidates to submit their qualifications as instructor” for the district.
“The candidate pool will be reviewed by the superintendent, law enforcement representatives and consultants hired by the district to determine the best candidate,” the draft policy states. “The district will then engage with the approved instructor to provide the training (for) staff and volunteers in accordance with this policy.”
Employees and volunteers who receive permission from the board to carry concealed firearms must only fire their weapons if they “reasonably” perceive that their “life, or the life or lives of others, are in imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury,” the draft policy states, and any employee authorized to carry a firearm on school property “who fails to comply with any provision of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”
Superintendent Steve Splichal said the notice of intent to adopt the new policy will be advertised this week, and the district will collect feedback from local residents through July 24, including during a public hearing set for July 22.
The school board will officially consider adopting the policy July 29, Splichal said.
For more information, call Fremont County School District 2 at (307) 455-5545.