LETTER: South Dakota should not allow guns into schools

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To the Editor:

I commend the Legislature for not allowing concealed weapons on university campuses.

Because of past experiences as a public school teacher and administrator, however, HB 1087 to allow guns in elementary and secondary schools concerns me.

I had a college friend who became an elementary principal in Phoenix. He was shot to death by a disgruntled employee at an administrative meeting during school hours.

As a teacher at San Fernando High School in Los Angeles in 1972, I shared an office along a hallway with two teachers.

They cautioned me not to look students in the eye while walking down the hallway. They said that most of the students carried switchblades and wouldn’t hesitate to use them if they felt threatened in any way. As an administrator, I’ve taken knives off of students from kindergarten through high school, one of whom had a serious anger management problem.

The last thing we need to do in South Dakota is to allow guns in public K-12 schools. If we do, we should be prepared to provide combat pay to K-12 employees. It might be a creative way to raise teacher salaries, but we shouldn’t be creating war zones. The body count is high enough already.

Tags: opinion, updates, letters, guns, schools, legislature