Weapons training group at school meeting tonight

Parents who are opposed to the Tamaqua Area School District’s plan to arm staff are upset after being caught off-guard about the format for the special meeting tonight to discuss arming teachers.

Liz Pinkey, one of the group’s leading members, says the group was taken by surprise when, during a meeting with Superintendent Ray Kinder and board members Nicholas Boyle and Larry Wittig about the format for the public meeting, she learned that the board plans to have a presenter from the organization FASTER.

FASTER stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response. It is a program offered by the nonprofit organization Buckeye Firearms Foundation to provide training and resources for schools that are contemplating arming its staff.

According to its website, the FASTER Program offers no-cost training, comprehensive preparation described as crisis management and hands-on emergency medical training for life-threatening injuries, and on-call assistance, which would include provide assistance for policies and procedures, insurance issues, legal and union concerns and local police/EMT drills and coordination.

“Each school selects staff members who are willing, competent and capable. Experts on school violence provide training in armed response, crisis management and emergency medical aid,” the organization says on its website.

“The group I’m working with was caught off-guard,” said Pinkey. “We were under the impression that the board was going to be there to listen to us, not continue to sell the plan.”

Parents have spoken out about a resolution that would allow the district to arm teachers. Residents have asked instead for armed security guards, or other measures to protect students.

The policy, which had been prepared over the past several months, calls for volunteers from the ranks of teachers, support staff and administrators to carry firearms and provide for deterrent and elimination of any school-shooting threat. The board voted to approve the policy in October.

Board President Wittig said that the issue of securing the buildings and protecting students from a potential shooting threat started being discussed after the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012.

Tamaqua would become the first district in Pennsylvania to approve this option.

Pinkey referred to the planned FASTER presentation as a “sales pitch” and said the groups she is working with have “major problems” with the organization’s program.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. today in the middle school large-group instruction room.