By Jim Walsh and Paul Maryniak | Ahwatukee Foothills News
President Donald Trump’s proposal that a select number of trained teachers be armed with concealed guns is drawing largely negative reaction from East Valley school superintendents and a police chief who fears it would create more problems than it would solve.
Of the two districts serving Ahwatukee, Tempe Union Superintendent flat out opposed arming teachers while Kyrene Superintendent Jan Vesely said she’s seen no data suggesting it would be an effective deterrent to school shootings.
Ahwatukee Foothills News polled superintendents and police chiefs last week on whether they favored arming teachers in light of the Feb. 14 massacre at the South Florida high school that claimed the lives of 14 students and three staffers and wounded 12 others.
Trump proposed that arming a few highly trained teachers could reduce or even eliminate such carnage.
Superintendents in Chandler, Tempe and Gilbert flatly oppose the idea, while others had district spokespeople issue a statement.
Others gave more nuanced responses. Higley School District spokeswoman Michelle Reese only would say Superintendent Mike Thomason was out of town.
