State superintendent Debbie Critchfield said Idaho schools are “hard at work” on school safety training, after President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing federal agencies to improve active shooter drills.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — both Democrats — announced the executive order during a ceremony last week at the White House. The order directs federal agencies to research and share guidance on school-based shooting drills. The training should be effective and should minimize trauma for students and staff who participate in them, the order said.
“While it would be impossible for the issue of school safety to get too much attention, Idaho has already been hard at work on training and awareness of school safety protocols,” Critchfield, a Republican, told Idaho Education News by email. “It’s foolish to say that tragedies can’t or won’t happen, but I know that school safety is of the utmost priority for districts and charters across the state.”
There have been relatively few shooting incidents at Idaho K-12 schools compared to other states, according to data since 2013, compiled by Everytown for Gun Safety. In 2021, a Rigby sixth grader shot and wounded two students and a custodian before a teacher disarmed her. No one died in the incident.
Idaho’s School Safety and Security Program — an office within the State Board of Education — provides training, technical assistance and other security resources to local school districts. The program has “great leadership and support where it matters,” Critchfield said, and local school leaders often go “above and beyond…basic expectations.”
“These steps have included things like cameras, advanced software for locking buildings and background checks for visitors,” she said. “Nothing is foolproof, but schools have done a great job making sure that resources have been used to update safety measures.”
Biden’s executive order creates a task force to study untraceable weapons as well as devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into military-style machine guns. And it taps the secretaries of Education and Homeland Security to research active shooter drills in schools. Within 110 days, the federal officials should develop guidance on:
- Age- and developmentally-appropriate drills,
- Communicating with students and parents about drills,
- Preventing students and educators from experiencing trauma or psychological distress from drills and
- Serving people with disabilities and language-related needs when designing drills.
The executive order calls on federal agencies to share information with schools, but it doesn’t create new rules related to school security. And the order doesn’t have the same effect as a law; a future president could rescind it.
Preventing gun violence has been a key issue for Harris as she campaigns to succeed Biden as president, according to the New York Times. Harris has said she owns a gun for personal safety.
“We know how to stop these tragedies, and it is a false choice to suggest you are either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris said during last week’s ceremony.
Former president Donald Trump, a Republican running to retake the White House, has been critical of Biden and Harris’ firearm policies, and promised to repeal gun restrictions enacted by the administration. The Trump administration in 2018 called for “hardening” school security by training educators to use firearms and recruiting military veterans and retired law enforcement to work in schools.
