TOPPENISH, Wash.-The policy allowing some Toppenish School District administrators to conceal carry on school grounds has been removed.
The school board passed the removal at the August 26 board meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Taron Wooldridge says the previous policy put into place before he arrived this summer, allowed up to $5 million in liability coverage.
When it came time to renew the insurance, it would only cover up to $1 million.
“When I met with the safety members, we talked about the current liability coverage and they had concerns because it opened up an avenue for personal liability,” says Wooldridge. “They decided it was too much of a personal liability on them to continue.”
The former policy allowed around 15 administrators to conceal carry on school grounds. In the event of an active violent incident at any TSD school, they would respond and act as first responders.
That safety committee is still responsible for planning the response to active incidents, but first responding will be left to the professionals.
“We still, at each of our campuses, have our school resource officers,” says Dr. Wooldridge. “We have armed school resource officers. I’ve been working with the police department to ensure an extra layer of support and coverage on our campuses.”
The SROs are now the only district employees allowed to carry on campuses. Even without that extra safety measure, the superintendent feels confident in the schools’ safety.
“It’s unfortunate that in this day and age, you have school shootings,” says Dr. Wooldridge. “That’s why we have procedures and policies in place to make sure that safety is a priority with our students and with our staff.”
