Should teachers be armed with baseball bats? This Pa. school district says yes
As the question of whether to arm teachers has become a hot-button topic in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in February, some school districts have gotten creative.
A Pennsylvania school district has decided to give teachers small wooden baseball bats as a reminder to fight back against a shooter, should all other options fail.
The superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in Erie said the 16-inch bats are primarily symbolic, but the district did want to have a "consistent tool" for all teachers should they need to fight and attacker, according to The Associated Press.
Superintendent William Hall told the Erie Times-News the district's revised school shooting response plan puts more emphasis on options other than "hiding and waiting." The president of the local teachers union says he supports the move.
The baseball bats are just part of "aggressive measures to improve safety and security in all schools," according to a "message from the superintendent," posted to the district’s website.
Other measures include a implementing "run, hide, fight" approach for students and staff, building a concrete barrier to existing walkways at the high school, constructing secured entrances, purchasing "Sop the Bleed" kits for all classrooms and giving police access to all security camera systems and the district's emergency radio frequency.
In March, the Blue Mountain School District in Schuylkill County decided to place buckets of river rocks in each classroom in case students and staff can't evacuate.
"Protocol has been that students lie down, under desks and basically become passive targets on our classrooms," Superintendent David Helsel told CNN. "We decided to empower our students with tools of self-defense if needed."
In Centre County, there has been no plans made to arm teachers with bats, rocks or otherwise. A full account of the security measures that are put in place by the county's five public school districts can be read at CentreDaily.com.
This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Should teachers be armed with baseball bats? This Pa. school district says yes."