Redmond mom urges armed person in all schools

The NRA has not been shy in saying, “a gun in every school.” At Wednesday night’s Redmond school board meeting, a parent suggested just that, but school officials say while an armed officer would be beneficial, it comes down to the money.

Redmond mother Mandi Puckett put together the proposal, and created a website, schoolsafetyproposal.com. She was concerned with student safety after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Her proposal points to three issues with school violence: prevention, treatment and enforcement.

At Wednesday night’s first Redmond School Board meeting of the year, Superintendent Mike McIntosh heard the suggestions.

“My heart hurts for America, Oregon and Redmond, that we have a societal issue where we’re even contemplating how to shore up security,” McIntosh said Thursday.

Puckett’s plan isn’t to arm just any teacher or principal. She wants either an officer or someone with previous police experience or military experience on campus, with a weapon.

“If they were law enforcement, I would welcome law enforcement — they’re trained,” McIntosh said. “That’s better than a trained teacher.”

But with Oregon struggling with budget issues as it is, McIntosh doesn’t believe they could afford to make those drastic changes.

“We’ve cut days, we cut teachers, we cut programs, we’ve increased class sizes to pay for what we’re doing,” McIntosh said. “So I’m stuck with that decision of how to make a balance between still educating kids, that’s what parents expect me to do. And they expect me to keep kids safe. I welcome both of those.”

State Rep. John Huffman has heard Puckett’s plan, and wants to introduce school safety legislation.

Puckett says there can’t be one strict plan, but one that works for every school, whether that means a volunteer on campus or a school resource officer with a gun.

Everyone involved in the discussion agrees there are no simple answers.