School boards across Idaho have rejected a contentious plan to set up gun training for staff and teachers.
The firearms proposal came from the tiny Garden Valley School District, which serves 230 students on the edge of the Boise National Forest in southwest Idaho.
Rosemary Koenig, a member of the local school board, says in a crisis, staff could be waiting a long time for help.
“On a good day, during school hours, there might be up to four deputies available. That's four deputies, serving an area close to the size of Rhode Island.”
But Idaho school boards voted against asking the state's police academy to establish a training program for school employees.
On a completely different issue, the Idaho School Boards Association did approve a resolution encouraging the legislature to fully fund Common Core. That's the new set of math, reading and writing standards adopted by 45 states, including Idaho.
But some Idaho lawmakers and school board members say the standards are a threat to local control.
School board trustees also gave their support to tying school funding to student learning instead of attendance, and to a federal bill aimed at curbing “overreach” by the U.S. Department of Education. They voted against creating a single statewide computer program for collecting student data.
The approved resolutions will be part of the Idaho School Boards Association’s 2014 legislative agenda.
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