Thursday, October 21, 1999
School chief: No weapons for teachers
Remarks spark Reading controversy
BY SARA J. BENNETT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dr. John Varis
|
READING — Talk that city schools Superintendent John Varis wants to arm teachers is just that, Mr. Varis said, claiming comments he made at a teachers' in-service and on a nationally televised debate show have been blown out of proportion.
In a letter sent to parents Wednesday, Mr. Varis said there were “no plans to consider (arming teachers) in the future, period, end of discussion.”
Mr. Varis has said, however, that he thinks all options should be discussed after shootings in communities such as Paducah, Ky., Jonesboro, Ark., and Littleton, Colo.
Just what that means has people speculating. Parents, teachers and residents are scrutinizing tapes and transcripts of Mr. Varis' recent television interviews. And people are expected to pack a 7 p.m. meeting today in the high school cafeteria that originally was called to discuss the 1,400-student district's goals.
“I think the people have a right to be concerned about what they heard,” said Bill Apking, a school board member who has three children in the Reading school district. “There are a lot of people — a lot of parents — that are up in arms about that.”
Mr. Varis isn't the first official to create controversy in the discussion about battling school violence.
Earlier this year, Georgia Schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko proposed a state law authorizing administrators with the proper training to carry Mace, pepper spray or stun guns.
University of Chicago Law School fellow John R. Lott Jr. also has advocated arming teachers, saying it would deter violence.
The issue arose in Reading on Friday at an in-service led by self-defense experts Debbie and Mike Gardner of the Survive Institute Inc.
Mr. Varis said he arranged the session because he wanted to give teachers practical information about what they could do in an emergency. Discussion topics included using books to block bullets and putting first-aid kits in classrooms.
The issue of allowing teachers to carry guns came up during what Mr. Varis called a “brainstorming.” He was interviewed about it on local television, then appeared later that evening on Fox TV's Hannity & Colmes debate show. A transcript shows host Alan Colmes trying to nail down Mr. Varis's views on arming teachers.
“I'm saying that teachers ought to be able to take whatever steps are necessary to bring themselves and their students out alive,” Mr. Varis answered.
This week, Reading is buzzing with talk about the superintendent and his views. Ursula Nutley, who has two children at Hilltop Elementary School, says she's against put ting guns in classrooms. But she added that she trusts the district.
“Nothing was set in stone, so I wasn't drawing a big concern yet,” she said. “Reading schools have always been very informative. They're not going to let something like this start without the input of parents and teachers and the community.”
Rachel Ward, a fifth-grade teacher at Hilltop, found the in-service “great” and said she didn't know how the issue of arming teachers grew so prominent.
“They took it from, we need to be able to protect ourselves to, we need guns in school,” she said.
Mr. Varis said he will not recommend a policy allowing teachers to carry guns. The proof, he said, is in the letter he sent home with children Wednesday.
“The record is what I sign,” he said. “Everything else is brainstorming, and if somebody wants to make a case out of it, I have to ask ... what's your point?”
Although there have been no incidents of violence at Reading's three schools, Friday's in-service wasn't the first time Mr. Varis has taken a hands-on approach to the violence issue.
At a future in-service, he wants to take teachers to the firing range at Scarlet Oaks so they can become familiar with the sound of gunfire. He says he also is discussing getting bullet-proof vests for school offices.
“We're looking at every possible idea to facilitate the safety of the staff and the students,” he said.
Carlos Sundermann, director of the National Resource Center for Center for Safe Schools in Portland, Ore., said schools should pair emergency response plans with preventive measures such as creating positive relationships with police.
“People think that if you just get a metal detector system everything will fine, or if you train teachers in self-defense, but I think there are serious liability issues there,” he said. “I really urge people to think proactively and think cautiously about what they're going to be doing.”
Any district allowing teachers to carry firearms likely would violate the Gun-Free Schools Act, Mr. Sundermann said. The act says any state receiving federal education funds must have a law expelling any student who brings a gun to school.
“It just seems to kind of violate the whole spirit of why that law was enacted, which is to try to keep our campuses gun-free,” Mr. Sundermann said.
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