Chinook school discusses allowing guns on campus, strip searches

A recent decision by the Chinook School Board to authorize certain people to carry a firearm at school and comment at a back to school assembly about the legality of strip searches has angered a number of parents with children in the school system and caused one teacher to quit after 10 years at the district.

Chinook Public Schools Superintendent Fred Hofman said the firearm decision by the board comes after months of deliberation after a school shooting threat that occurred in Chinook High School back in May, but some, including then-teacher Courtney Bell, said they feel their voices were not sufficiently listened to.

Bell said she didn’t hear that the board was discussing the issue because the discussions took place over the summer, and she didn’t hear about it until late in the proceedings.

She said she thinks teachers should have been given more notice about this apparent change in policy from the school being a gun-free place.

Hofman said the school board hasn’t changed any policy with regards to firearms on campus, only they approved certain individuals to carry weapons, and that there is a comprehensive vetting process for these individuals.

In a letter to parents on the decision he said individuals looking to get approval must possess a concealed carry permit, provide verification that they have successfully completed a concealed carry course and provide written verification that they have reviewed the laws in Montana for the justifiable use of force.

Even still, the letter says, the board has reserved the right to adjust those conditions every month and possessing a firearm on campus without meeting these requirements is a criminal offense.

The letter says that this approval of individuals to carry firearms is a small part of the district’s wider safety plan, and in an interview Thursday Hofman said the district’s policy is not out-of-line with others in the state.

Bell said when she found out about this she asked Hofman and the board to reconsider their decision and told them that she would resign if guns were allowed on campus, which she did after hearing their response.

She said she was told that she had her chance to comment on the issue at their meetings over the summer which had agendas put out as law requires, but Bell said she feels more effort should have been put in to making sure every teacher knew this conversation was happening given how profoundly this matter affects teachers.

Bell said this issue is a personal one to her, having lost a daughter, a recent Chinook High School graduate, to suicide by gun, she believes having firearms in the school only makes accidents more likely and law enforcement is already tasked with protecting students.

“You’re introducing the chance of an accident,” she said. “There are policemen who do that job.”

“I don’t think it’s a place for guns,” she added. “… So I resigned, after 10 years.”

Hofman said the board took the concerns of teachers and parents into account when they made this decision and surveys to both parents and staff indicated strong support for the policy.

The survey results included in the letter sent to parents after the decision says 29 percent of parents agree with having guns in the school and 42 percent of parents strongly agree, with 10 percent against and 13 percent strongly against.

As for staff, the results are more mixed, with 38 percent agreeing, 27 percent disagreeing and the rest remaining neutral in their responses.

Some parents have expressed that they think their children will feel less safe at school with firearms there, and Hofman said one parent at the summer meetings said her children wouldn’t come at all if they knew there were guns in the school.

Hofman said the board isn’t issuing a blanket change allowing anyone to carry a gun, and it’s likely that only a handful of people will ultimately be approved to carry a firearm, and he’s not worried about the potential of students feeling unsafe.

“I’m not particularly concerned personally,” he said about people being approved to carry guns.

Back to school assembly comments

Another recent issue that has some parents of Chinook Public Schools students, and some students, angry is a statement Hofman made at a back to school assembly where he talked about a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that allows public schools to perform strip searches on students suspected of having dangerous items like drugs and weapons.

In an interview Thursday, Hofman repeatedly said that all he did was explain the law, but many parents, Bell included, perceived this as a threat, a warning to students not to bring drugs to school unless they want to risk being strip searched.

He said the school’s policy and protocols on strip searches are not changing, but with drugs, including vaping, becoming more pervasive among students they felt an explanation of the case, and what schools are legally allowed to do, was in order.

“There’s no change in anything, we just explained the law,” he said.

He said Chinook Public Schools hasn’t done a strip search in more than 20 years, or maybe ever, but when asked if strip searches would become a more common occurrence in the future he said he had no idea and that the decision to carry out such a search would be based on a number of factors, including who is making the accusation.

“Is this the first time something’s been said? Do these people have a beef? What is the credibility of that witness? What is the other information that we have? Has that kid been in trouble and caught with drugs before?” Hofman said.

He said there have been instances of students making accusations against other students that turned out to be false, so they will exercise restraint, and while law allows them to perform these searches if it is suspected that dangerous items like a firearm or serious drug is involved, they cannot perform a search for innocuous things like ibuprofen, and they certainly cannot do searches randomly.

Bell was among the parents who was alarmed at the statement at the assembly and said she certainly perceived it as a threat, and she’s not the only one.

“That’s how the students perceived it,” she said.

She said she’s told her own children that if they ever get in trouble that they shouldn’t consent to a search without calling her, and the fact that that’s necessary for her to do is unacceptable.

“That’s very sick,” she said. “ ... They came into the school year acting like our kids were criminals. How do you make your kids feel safe in that environment?”

Bell said a lot of students now think they could potentially be searched based on a rumor and that is bound to make them feel unsafe.

As for the reaction of parents to the assembly, Hofman said, they should contact him about it instead of speaking to a newspaper, and only one did.

“If the parents want to misinterpret that, that’s fine,” he said. “I’m sorry they did that. I would encourage them to contact me directly.”

Hofman said he is concerned that drug use in the schools is becoming more common, which is a big issue, but said the decision to mention this at the assembly was made for a number of reasons, not all of which he was willing to talk about.

“I’m not going to go into the reasons why we did that, but there were reasons,” he said.