Signs outside the Claude ISD say, “Please be aware that the staff at Claude ISD is armed and may use whatever force necessary to protect our students.”
MyHighPlains.com said Claude ISD recently posted the signs and ISD employees started carrying guns back in November. MyHighPlains.com said it was after more than a year of planning.
Superintendent Jeff Byrd said intent waas not to threaten or intimidate. Instead, it was so people could see and understand the message from any of adjacent roads or streets.
Byrd said in addition to a concealed handgun license, armed employees must shoot monthly.
“We have to shoot so many rounds a month, so there is training involved monthly. And annually we go to a 2-to-3 day thorough training where we are working on different scenarios,” added Byrd.
Because they are in a rural area Byrd said their goal is to protect their students until police can arrive.
“We have a plan in place; it is not just to conceal carry. We are not trying to replace a peace officer,” Byrd said. “What we are trying to do is provide a resource that will get us from the time a perpetrator entered our buildings until the response time of the Armstrong County Sheriff or DPS officer.”
(Information from myhighplains.com)
