No Way Ed

Ed Griffin is running for LEISD school board.

We oppose Ed's proposals for our school district.

Our teachers are not trained police officers and our local police departments have a one minute response time.  

Ed accuses our current school board of taking no action for the safety of Little Elm ISD school children, which is incorrect.  This is a citizen campaign to stop Ed, and to support DeLeon English.

Ed made the following proposal to take advantage of recent events.

This is Ed's public proposal. 

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This proposal has numerous concerns.

1.  Ed quotes Maslow's law.  His argument starts with the fact that learning cannot take place if the students do not feel safe.  His argument is that we must have teachers with special training (like a police officer) with a firearm is the ONLY way that our students will feel safe.  This is fear mongering in itself.  There are many other things we can be doing to make our campuses safer, and Ed mentions none of those.  Yet, he projects to the community that kids are not safe unless teachers have guns, and in effects creates the fear of security that Maslow's law talks about.  

2.  Ed falsely claims that our superintendent and school board are not practicing "this concept in our schools."  He argues that they are not working on comprehensive plan to increase safety at all schools. This is not true.  This is again a fear and slander tactic.  It also again offers the argument that only giving teachers guns is the only comprehensive plan, and Ed offers us no other discussion of other safety measures.

Click here for DeLeon English's response to school safety.  

3. His plan is for volunteer teaching staff to have licensed weapons on campus.  The first issue here is that he does not address what happens if no one volunteers.  He does not address what happens if there is only a few volunteers. He is out of touch with our teaching staff as he obvious is not aware of how many teachers do not want this. An administrator may move around the building, so how to they get access to a secured weapon if they are not near it?  If a teacher has a secured weapon in a classroom, how are they respond when the attacker is on the other side of the school?  Ed so far has avoided answering such questions publicly.

4.  He states that volunteers must attend mandatory training.  Teachers are constantly in the state of training - often during teacher work days, and the weeks leading up to school.  Sometimes training means the school getting subs and the teacher misses class time.  Sometimes it means additional work in the summer.  Police train on a regular basis to respond to such situations, so teachers would have to as well?   Anyone who knows a teacher knows that their work week is not a forty hour week.  Classes, staff meetings, and extracurricular events.  Yet we want to dump something else on them but expect them to always be on top of their game to teach.

5. Ed states that the district would bear the cost of the liability insurance.  OSHA states that one of the leading causes of workplace death is homicide.  Having guns in our school, what would that insurance cost us?  Ed doesn't tell us.  The rates could vary, but an underwriter will want specifics on various ongoing regulations of these weapons and the persons using them.   Ed makes it sound great, but doesn't give us the details of what an underwriter would want.

6. " Staff members who are permitted to carry a firearm must pass a rigorous background investigation including NCIC and an intense psychological background history check"  Well, Ed.  There is this thing called HIPAA.  You might have heard about this. The NIMH estimates that in one year's time 16 million Americans had a depressive episode.  That is about 7% percent of the population in a year.  Depression can be a treatable mood disorder. To be diagnosed with depression, symptoms must occur for at least two weeks.  Research suggests that a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors play a role in depression. If a teacher is diagnosed with depression and begins taking meds or other treatment, under HIPAA the are not bound to tell their employer.  A one-time psychological profile is not going to cut it.  If you are going to make them dive deep into a psychological evaluation, but for some reason (like seasonal depression) a volunteer is not accepted, this now known information could be used to discriminate against a teacher when a district decides to renew their contracts.  This could an otherwise great teacher to lose their teaching certificate or be blacklisted by other school districts.  So, how much money will this cost to maintain and monitor these volunteers?  Who is going to write that in-depth policy?

7. " School Districts must take definitive action now to address people who are at large today and desire to do harm and take innocent lives."  Well, again, you are expecting the district to begin doing the jobs of the FBI and the police?   If there is a student or teacher that they see behaving erratically, they can take action.  How does Ed propose this definitive action?  ..and against PEOPLE AT LARGE?  How does a school district monitor people at large in order to determine who will take innocent lives?

8. " The underlying cause of these campus crises, in many cases, can be addressed by improved mental health diagnoses and treatment and action by those in authority to manage the lives of those deemed “mentally ill.”    So what exactly are we expecting the school district to do, what authority to they actually have and how do the determined a mental illness (especially if they are not licensed for that)?

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Issues online posted by the community that Ed has yet to address:

1.  "if you can't shoot to kill in a situation like Florida, then you're just antagonizing the shooter and putting more lives at risk.  Not everyone is prepared to take a life, how will we prepare our faculty to deal with the idea that they may have shot a student?"

2.  "The NYPD has a hit rate of less than 20% and they are highly trained at this. You expect teachers to do better than trained police officers?  Teachers already have enough to deal with trying to teach our little bundles of energy. How about we focus on giving all our teachers better salaries, all the supplies they need, etc."  Reference:

3. One person writes, " Teachers put in huge amounts of time actually teaching not to mention training and countless hours outside the classroom fulfilling their role as educators.  My husband, 2 of my brothers, and dad are all military or former military. They've explained the countless hours it takes to train in both target acquisition, threat assessment, and active shooter situations, etc. It's a job unto itself: soldier. I don't see how one person could be both teacher and potentially combat ready soldier. There's just not enough hours in the day."   Ed should address how the training provided will be adequate.

4. Another person writes, " Police notoriously have a bad hit rate, not matter who the department is. It's not always about training. It's hard to simulate shooting under that kind of stress which is why hit rates can be low. Most agencies, including those in Texas, only qualify with their duty weapon one or two times a year. For a lot of officers that's all they ever shoot as well. Training budgets can be tight unfortunately."  Ed has yet to address how much it will cost for the training and where it will come out of the budget, one at which he says he will reduce by $5million plus in tax rebates (more on this later).

5.  "Are you really wanting to put our teachers in that position? Do you want them to make the choice to shoot someone, freeze up and get killed. I'm sorry but I value life. I agree to put veterans, more armed resource officers etc...Leave our teachers to alone,"

6. " If the district has this much money to spend, please use it on more counselors and social workers in schools. Teaching is not an armed profession."  Remember that Ed stated to take action to manage the lives of those mentally ill?  So, wouldn't this be one better option?

7. Have we considered the opinions of people who have lived through this?   Click the link for the story of a former principal who held an active shooter at gunpoint.

8. Are there not other ways to deter school shootings?  click the link for a great video. 

9. Has Ed even considered the opinions of teachers? Here is one outspoken teacher: "As a teacher, I have grave concerns about teachers being armed. I was taught at a young age how to handle a weapon responsibly and regularly went to the range. I believe in the right to bear arms. I am heart broken over all of the school shootings. That being said, I feel so strongly against teachers being armed, that I would give up the profession I love if I am asked or required to carry a gun. There is too much that can go wrong. For example, if a teacher separated 2 students fighting, it would be relatively easy for a student to grab a teachers gun and use it. I will willingly lay down my life to protect students but I will NEVER bring a gun to school."

...and another comment ... " This is ridiculous. Ask the teachers what they want! You have a direct group of affected people and no one is asking for their input. I would vote and pay more in taxes to protect students with other options but adding this to the teachers responsibilities is too much."

.... and another .....  " Teacher here! No, I do not want to have armed teachers in schools. Too many things can go wrong. I wouldn't want to work in a school where teachers are armed. Too many things can go wrong."
....and another......
Police Officers often are criticized for actions they take. I would not want to be in that situation. Plus, if I wanted that kind of job, I would have chosen that career. I am in the education field because I love making a difference. However, if Ed Griffin or Ted Cruz support this arming teachers, they lost my vote.

....and another....

I sub for LEISD and was certified in NV to be honest I’m not sure how I feel about being asked to be prepared to shoot an intruder (luckily as a sub I wouldn’t be). I want to protect the students and I want to make it home safely to my 5 children as well. I cannot imagine taking a life. My husband is Military and I know from him that it isn’t something you get over- even if it’s completely justified. I’d like to think if put in that situation that I’d be able to do whatever it took and that adrenaline would kick in. Anyone can say how they would react all day, but they’d never really know until they find themselves in that situation.

...and another...

"Teachers are nurturers by nature. We want to help kids. Can you imagine seeing a child come into your school that you’ve known since he was a little kinder kid and now you are expected to kill him? Not try and help, not try and talk...you hesitate for a second to shoot that child you’ve known for years and then what? A dead teacher (mother, father, husband, wife) and a roomful of kids left exposed. "

10. " There have been districts that have discussed requiring teachers be armed. LEISD has not discussed that, to my knowledge. The only thing that held the districts back from implementing it was their insurance carriers informing them that they would cancel their coverage. I believe learning about the insurance and liability issues need to be part of the discussion before we consider allowing or encouraging teachers to be armed."  Ed states that the district would carry the liability but has offered no more.

11.   "if you think that students will never figure out that a teacher has a concealed weapon, you are wrong. They figure out everything. And pass that info on to all of their friends. 

They also are highly capable of pulling stupid pranks. Imagine if a couple of kids decided to test a teacher and see what it would take for the teacher to draw their weapon. Imagine the story on the news if things went south from there.
Also, don’t even think for a second that high school students couldn’t overpower a teacher and take their weapon. You see news stories all the time about fights at school and the teacher either gets involved or is kept from getting involved. A situation like that could easily escalate and cause more tragedy than if a weapon wasn’t onsite.
Also, if a student is having a mental breakdown and wants to commit a mass shooting at a school, they wouldn’t even have to bring the weapon anymore! They could figure out how to cause a distraction and get a hold of the teacher’s weapon and use it.
I am not saying my scenarios are things that would absolutely happen, but I’m sure most would agree that my scenarios are highly possible.
What we need to do here before taking ANY action, is to think the situation through as far as we can take it. This is what separates adults from children. Children don’t think and cause a lot of pain sorrow and heartache. Who are most of these school shooters? Kids. And how do you combat an enemy who doesn’t think things through? Do that very thing yourself. We need to play out all possibilities and figure out the best way to address them."  How do we address the issue of students are intent on trying to get one of these guns? 

12.   "3 percent of secondary teachers reported being physically attacked by a student in the 2011/2012 school year. This was presented on page v of a report found at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017064.pdf

So, because the scenarios I brought up didn’t happen (or that news simply didn’t make it to your eyes and ears), then I can safely assume that the 3% of secondary teachers assaulted wouldn’t have any problems despite being armed? (in your projected solution to our problem)

I call BS. Teacher assault happens. Its a fact. And if the teacher has a weapon on their person, bad things can easily happen. Are you going to take responsibility if it does?" 

13.   "Why can't the district provide a resource officer or security guard for the front of Chavez and Brent Elementary, where there is no controlled entrance at this time? All you have to do is be buzzed in and you have complete access to heavily populated areas of these schools."   Ed has not responded, but the district has responded.  That's what leaders do, right?

14.   "Please tell me more about this intensive psychological history background check."  Again, specifically asked of Ed, with no response.

15. Is Ed willing to raise property taxes if needed to implement his proposal as opposed to taking it from the budget of salaries, curriculum or technology?  " Let's have armed officers and security guards. Teachers chose their profession to teach our children not defend and protect them from guns. .. Let's not use our hardworking under paid teachers. They are someone's mom and dad. I definitely would not ask this of them. Raise my damn property tax to protect my children instead. Use that money to make the school safer. Bullet proof windows, metal detectors etc....We don't see government buildings having mass shootings. Let's stop the finger pointing and start trying to find solutions."  Clearly he is answer is to cut taxes of more than 5 million to select people, find more info below. 

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17.  Ed, have you discussed your plan with the police and the school board?  Do you still maintain that they do not have a comprehensive plan?   "Everyone, I emailed Dr. Gallagher with a specific suggestion today about a concern I had. He responded very quickly. He also let me know that the district is in the process of reviewing all safety procedures. He is working with our district's Director for Safety (hired last year) and the LE Chief of Police. If you have specific concerns or suggestions, I believe he will take them seriously and respond quickly. The fact that our district has hired the safety director demonstrates to me their seriousness about helping keep our students safe. The election is months away. Let's continue to work with out Superintendent and board about our concerns. They really do seem to be taking this seriously."

Also, school board agenda.  

18. Well, this speaks for itself.  " But as a teacher the things I can see going wrong are:

A weapon in a room with children, some of whom could be disturbed or be considering such an act. While this hasn’t yet been an issue in a classroom, we all know it has been an issue in homes.
A teacher in this type of high adrenaline situation is likely to make mistakes. Most likely, unless she is former military, this will be her first and only combat situation. What if she misses and hits students? Who will be liable? How will she live with herself if she possibly survives?
We encourage our students to go away from the shooter, to hide or run. This will encourage the leader of the students to go in the wrong direction. Who will be with them if she is going towards the shooter? What if they follow her and are put in the line of fire? I teach seven year olds. I don’t want them alone. I don’t want my child left in a room alone.
And, I can’t know that the police/ SWAT responding will know all teachers that are armed. Police will flock in from surrounding areas, so even if all of the LE Police Force or The Colony knows who is packing, Frisco or Lewisville may respond and may not know. In a very high anxiety, high stakes situation, they will not have time to review this.
What about false alarms? What about lock downs without a shooter? When does a teacher know to pull their weapon? What about mistakes? Imagine the liability.... imagine the devastation if a teacher was trying to do the right thing and in a panic ended up hurting her own students.
I might be okay with school administrators carrying if they felt comfortable. Or others in the school who are not directly in charge of a specific group of students, who had an office or place where weapons could be stored outside of a classroom." 

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20.  We will give teachers body armor who are expected to use their firearms?   "After reading what a AR-15 .223 round does to a person on my brothers page I'm wondering if we should get our SRO's body armor and SWAT shields rather than arm teachers. Seriously. I had no idea. Edited out the use of "colorful metaphors."

"Just a head's up though, this is by design. The lightness of the bullet, its spin, and the speed at which it travels all play a huge part in the kind of damage that .223 rounds can do. The weapon is designed to mess people up on a hit, any hit.
A round to the shoulder might skip off your upper arm bone or the top of the clavicle and leave torn tissue and a bloody mess that can be handled with a combat dressing.
It might also bounce directly into the joint and do so much damage that you need your arm amputated at the shoulder.
It might also bounce into your chest cavity and shred your lungs and heart.

The deciding factor on which of these (and other possibilities) isn't even the skill of the shooter or whether or not the victim ducked fast enough. It's how fast the round is travelling, where it impacts the bone or sufficiently dense tissue at, what angle it hits the dense mass at, and whether or not there is any traction on the spin to send the round careening around inside your body.

The .223 round has less charge behind it and doesn't have the same mass profile as the 5.56mm NATO duplex rounds we (Army) were using. Where our 5.56mm might punch straight through an unarmored target unless we directly hit bone, .223 rounds move slightly slower and have lower momentum as a result of this, which makes it a lot easier for the round to end up tumbling inside a victim.

If it hits you, it can mess you up in ways that no surgeon can fix. That is why there's a lot higher chance of shooting victims hit by these weapons dying, even if they make it to a surgical center within the Golden Hour after receiving trauma response care on the scene within moments of being hit.

Which is by design."

21. " As a teacher-questions...
If the shooter is no where near, should I leave my students scared and alone to hunt down the shooter? Or maybe I leave my door unlocked so he can come in and I can shoot him? Better yet, I lock my door but wait for him to come to my room and start shooting? And if I can’t kill him before he kills your child, will I be blamed for not saving your child? Can you imagine the guilt? Would you want that responsibility? If I aim for the shooter and your child runs behind him and I miss and hit your child, will you understand I’m not a trained marksman? Could I even live with myself after that?
I own a gun, and I know how to use it. However, if you think I, who has her own children in school, want my daughter’s math teacher or myself who’s had training but NEVER shot my weapon at anyone to be responsible for aiming a gun anywhere near my children and yours in that situation, you are delusional at best."

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Ok, what?  Yes, Ed is proposing a starting cut of $5 million dollars to our schools to give tax rebates to a targeted neighborhood and then to other potential supporters.  First, how does this effect the budget?  Teacher salaries come from such taxes.  We will need to reduce the number of teachers, the programs that we offer, and SROs that we can employee?  How does this effect our school's potentials which will also impact our property values?  Doesn't this payoff rebate sound like an open door for corruption to reward political favors instead of protecting our kids?  And what is his insinuated attack on his opponent, and how does that relate to improving our schools?