The Tyler ISD Board of Trustees approved the Guardian Plan today during a regularly scheduled board workshop. This means the Board of Trustees and the superintendent can authorize specific District employees to have access to certain firearms in schools, at board meetings, and at school-sponsored or school-related events on District property, to the extent allowed by law.
“The District sees this as an extra line of defense to ensure the safety of our students and staff and will always first rely on our Tyler ISD Police force and partnerships with local law enforcement agencies,” Crawford said.
Implementing the Guardian Plan is in addition to several other safety measures, including adding more officer positions to the Tyler ISD police department. Increasing the police force to thirty-four officers will allow for one armed officer based on every elementary school campus and more than one armed officer at the secondary schools.
Please know that each District employee approved to have access to a firearm on District property will have numerous hours of specialized training in crisis intervention, management of hostage situations, and other topics the Board may determine necessary before they are ever allowed to be a part of the Guardian Plan.
“We will be installing signs at campus entrances stating that some of our employees are armed,” Chief Communications Officer Jennifer Hines said. “We hope this warning will be one more deterrent for anyone thinking about harming our students and staff.”
Tyler ISD plans to enhance its coordination with Tyler Police Department, Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Constable’s Office, and federal agencies and continue coordinating with Tyler Fire Marshal on fire safety.
For more information, contact Jennifer Hines at Jennifer.Hines@TylerISD.org.