Select group of PWSD employees to carry firearms, provide security

The Palestine-Wheatley School District has adopted a new Commissioned School Security Officer program that will put firearms in the hands of some district employees in an effort to deter the possibility of violent crimes taking place on campus. The PW School Board voted unanimously last week in favor of adopting the new program, beginning with the 2026-27 school year. PWSD Superintendent Ryan Halbert said in an interview after the meeting that the weight of protecting the children in the district is a thought that sits heavily on his mind. "It weighs on me very heavily," said Halbert. "The matter of protecting our kids is a matter that I take most seriously. You see things on TV, read about things in the paper, and there is no way that you can be prepared for every single scenario that could potentially happen. But, I have devoted a lot of my time and training into learning about potential threats and dangers at school. I am doing everything I can to mitigate the possibility of those and make us as prepared as possible to deal with something if it should happen. Honestly, if something like that were to happen here, I don't think I could continue in my position." Halbert said he did not feel that having only one armed person across the district was enough to handle the possibility of the worst scenarios. "In that, one of the rounds that I take is that we have spent a lot of resources in becoming as hard of a target as possible," said Halbert. "What this means is, if someone does decide to come and do harm to our kids and staff, it is harder for them to get in, penetrate and infiltrate our school and our systems, to buy us some time. The worst possible case is that someone decides to come onto campus and commit and act of mass violence – a school shooting or otherwise. The way we have been set up is, we have one hired person, who is armed, who would react to that situation. I felt like that was not quite enough." During the interview, Halbert said that statistics show it takes on average eight seconds for a school shooting to be over and it would take longer than that for one School Resource Officer to make their way to a campus. "Statistics show that if a person decides to commit a school shooting, it is over within eight seconds," said Halbert. "I felt like if we have one person and three campuses that are spread out, it is going to take them longer than eight seconds to get from the high school to the elementary or vice versa. Or to the pre-k. I know that is just an average, but it is relevant I feel." According to Halbert, those selected for the roles had to endure a strenuous interview process, get certified by Arkansas State Police and pass background checks and mental acumen testing. "The program is set up like this. You have employees at the school who go through intense training," he said. "They are certified through the Arkansas State Police, they have to pass a background check and we check their mental acumen. On top of that, we put together a panel of medical staff and law enforcement to vet those who have signed up. We had a lot of different eyes looking at this. Everyone who wanted to be in this program had to sit in front of this panel for an intensive interview. We put some extra layers of protection in there." Halbert said that some members of the staff have a history as auxiliary police and they stated that following their training to join the CSSO program, they felt more prepared. "Starting this school year, we will have staff members who have been armed and trained," said Halbert. "They will also have to go to the range every semester and get a certain amount of range time. They have to qualify like any other law enforcement. We have members on the team who had been auxiliary officers and they stated that they feel more prepared following the CSSO training than they did when they became either a city or county auxiliary officer." Halbert said that as a parent and knowing all of the behind-the scenes stuff about this program, he is much more comfortable with his children attending public school. "When this started, I had all of the same concerns as the other parent," said Halbert. "We are not giving every teacher a gun. We are not saying, 'Okay, if you want to carry, you can carry.' It is a very intensive process and they have to have copious amounts of training. Once all of this training is done, they will be legally security officers that are specialized in addressing a school shooting. If it was a perfect world, I would have three FBI agents at the school at every campus, but that is not the world we live in. "I feel like this is a very good option for our district," continued Halbert. "I have two little ones and one will be down at the pre-k next year. Stepping out of the superintendent’s shoes, as a parent, knowing what I know behind the scenes and how everybody has been trained, I am so much more comfortable with my kid being there than I would have been beforehand. Not to say that we had a bad system, we are just more prepared now and edging toward being as prepared as possible." According to Halbert, after seeing a video from inside the school during the Uvalde, Texas school shooting in May, 2022 it convinced him that this new program is the right way to go. "I want to make this very clear, I am so thankful for our state, city and county law enforcement agencies," said Halbert. "I honestly cannot thank them enough and I trust them wholeheartedly. They work really well with our school and we have always had a good partnership. But, I saw a video of the Uvalde, Texas school shooting. I was under the impression that they had an SRO that didn't go in. I have seen the actual footage and the issue was that there were about six law enforcement officers who were employed by the school. They went in, but they stayed about two hallways down from the shooter and did not approach the shooter. Can that happen with school staff? Yes, I guess it probably could, but we will have people on the inside before it happens." Halbert said he has spoken to neighbors and some community members about the program and they seem comfortable with it. "There was no formal information out beforehand," said Halbert. "I have spoken to some neighbors and they were comfortable with it. I have heard parents in the community talk about this idea. I am not trying to come across as arrogant, but I have had a lot of training on school safety and active shooter training. With all of the information that I have, this was the best way to keep our kids safe." According to Halbert, school board member Jeff Goff supported the program and helped put the board together to conduct all of the interviews. "Our board members all took this very seriously as well," said Halbert. "The majority of them have children in our district. I am so thankful to all of our law enforcement, but the people that we have are as vetted as a city cop or county deputy. I have had people ask about the program and having Jeff Goff, who has made a career in law enforcement. He really became a champion for this. We are investing a lot of time and resources into a system that we hope we never use." Halbert shared he understands that the biggest concern was why parents were not consulted about this change before the board voted on it. He said he hopes that with a forum, for which a date has not been set, will allow parents an opportunity to ask questions and hopefully feel better about the new program. "Police will still respond in the event something happens, and when police do arrive, they will take over the scene," said Halbert. "These weapons have to be concealed on the employee's person,” said Halbert. “Not even all of the teachers know who all of the employees are in the program. We have six employees who have been selected and are about to graduate from their training. They will be spread out across our district.”

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