Guns In Schools? LTHS Debates It

LA GRANGE, IL — Board members for Lyons Township High School debated this week whether they should support a proposal to allow school districts to let employees carry concealed guns.

The issue will be before the Illinois Association of School Boards conference later this month. A small rural district south of the Quad Cities is proposing local control on guns.

At Monday's Lyons Township High School board meeting, six members opposed Mercer County School District 404's proposal. One agreed with it.

Board President Kari Dillon said she was opposed because a decision by one district would affect others. As an example, she said visiting sports teams could be in a school that allowed school employees to carry concealed weapons.

"More guns in school doesn't necessarily make our students safer," Dillon said.

Board member Julie Swinehart said some would argue that putting any gun on school property makes students less safe.

However, member Jill Beda Daniels said each school should make the decision for itself.

"I don't want to take that right away from schools that may see a benefit for them," Daniels said. "I don't know that we can understand a school where you don't feel safe... Just because there is a gun doesn't mean it's not going to be safe, but maybe without a gun, it's going to be more unsafe."

The Illinois Association of School Board's resolutions committee backs the Mercer County district's proposal. It noted the Mercer County district is in a rural area with long emergency response times. The district, it said, has the money to hire school resource officers, but it struggles to keep them.

In its proposal, the Mercer County district, which is 378 square miles, said it has five buildings in three towns, one which doesn't have a police force of its own and a second with just one full-time officer.