A Longmont charter school plans to allow certain staff members to carry concealed handguns beginning next school year.
Earlier this month, the Twin Peaks Classical Academy’s Board of Directors authorized the charter school to begin implementing a state statute that allows the district to retain a school security officer who may carry a concealed handgun on the school property.
Executive Director Joseph Mehsling outlined the decision making the school the first in the area to implement such a program along with the other layers of school security coming to Twin Peaks in a community letter.
He explained over the phone Tuesday that classroom teachers will not be given this designation as their duties lie with the children in their care.
“They’re not leaving their room to go help put out a fire,” he said. “They’re staying with their children and evacuating, for example, if it was a fire. They’re there with their students to weather the emergency, whatever it may be.”
While teachers will not be the staff members carrying handguns, Mehsling said the school will not share who is a designated school security officer or the number with the community. He did estimate it would be a handful of the almost 90 staff members at Twin Peaks.
To be a school security officer, the applicant must be an employee of the charter school, hired with an agreement to be a school security guard, provide their own equipment and pay for their own permitting, training and upkeep, have a current Conceal Handgun permit, complete and pass an active shooter training program and attend regular supplemental trainings.
Mehsling explained the decision was multiple years in the making for the charter school starting as long ago as the Sandy Hook tragedy, which was amplified by the school shootings in Uvalde and Nashville over the last year.
“Things keep happening and there is a groundswell of parent support and demand of what more are you doing if the unthinkable happens in your school,” he said. “... I know it’s unlikely — I mean there are 150,000 public schools and private schools in the United States — but do I want to keep risking the unlikeliness and it happens here, and I’m in the aftermath thinking, what more could I have done?”
Twin Peaks doesn’t have a school resource officer like some schools in Longmont, mainly because of capacity and funding issues. Mehsling said that while he would love to have an SRO at the school and pointed to their strong relationship with the Longmont police, Twin Peaks cannot afford the nearly $200,000 a year it would take to have an SRO stationed at the charter school.
Mehsling also emphasized that the school security officer program is one component of many Twin Peaks is adding to shore up school safety. There will also be additional training for all staff members, private security guards, camera and alarm system upgrades, signage and more.
“This is one component of a multi-layered approach to protect our community’s children as best we can with the tools and resources we have,” Mehsling said.
