Canyon Independent School District to vote on allowing guns on campus

On August 1, 2024By Rgal Nv

CANYON, Texas (KFDA) – Canyon ISD will hold a special meeting tomorrow night to discuss and vote on allowing certain employees to possess firearms on campus.

Districts around the Panhandle such as Dalhart ISD, Channing ISD, Claude ISD and Sanford-Fritch ISD have adopted similar policies in their schools.

“In most school districts, we require that applicants who we’re going to authorize to carry weapons pass a Level 3 exam and a psychological evaluation,” said Jeff Byrd, superintendent of the Dalhart School District. “It’s the same thing that someone who works for a police department or is going to work for a sheriff’s office would want to do.”

Many schools say a lack of police, remote first responders in their small districts and a lack of funding led them to implement the guardianship program.

“We’re so rural that we don’t have immediate access to law enforcement. It’s probably about 15 minutes before someone can respond if they’re not in Channing,” said Dr. Misty Heiskell, superintendent of the Channing Independent School District.

Dalhart ISD Superintendent says number one priority used to be education, but now number one priority is staff and student safety.

“This is my 32nd start for my 32nd school year, and even 20 years ago, I never would have imagined that we would be responsible for protecting our students with firearms, and that’s just the world we live in,” Byrd said.

Many districts around the Panhandle that have implemented the gun policy must conduct extensive training and evaluations before allowing employees to carry them on campus.

Canyon ISD will vote on implementing this measure for its district tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at the Canyon ISD District Support Center.