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TAYLORSVILLE — A new state law requires every Utah school to have an armed guardian on site, every day.
The goal is to protect against school threats. But several districts are struggling to find volunteers willing to respond with lethal force. And there are concerns about who these school guardians will be.
Among many other things, the law clearly states the guardians can't be teachers or principals, and they can't be assigned the job. They must volunteer.
"Think of them kind of like an air marshal when you board an airplane," said Matt Pennington.
Pennington is the state's new security chief assigned to carry out the sweeping new school safety law.
Guardians will respond with lethal force in the event of a school threat.
"If you attack a school here in Utah, you're going to be confronted," said Pennington. "It's not a soft target anymore."
A daunting task
The requirements already make it daunting for school districts to comply with the law. With more than 1,200 schools in Utah, administrators need a lot of guardians.
One more factor adds to that challenge: the pay.
For taking on this most serious responsibility, guardians will be compensated with a one-time $500 stipend. That is what state lawmakers allocated for this position.
"Who is going to take on this responsibility?" said Jeff Haney, spokesman for the Canyons School District.
He and other district leaders overwhelmingly prioritize school safety. But finding hundreds of guardians willing to defend schools every day, with little compensation, seems a tall order.
"It's a lot to ask and a lot of responsibility," said Halley Nelson, assistant principal of Glacier Hills Elementary.
"It would have to be somebody that already, either that was their job, or somebody who was already really motivated to protect kids," said ConnieTrue Simons, assistant principal at Midvale Middle School.
Administrators agree there are only a few people already on staff who might be qualified to fill the role, such as the custodian or school secretary.
"When you envision what the school secretary looks like, do you really envision that the person is the person who would run toward an issue?" Haney said.
Thanks, but no thanks
And to make matters worse, Canyons surveyed their employees asking who would take part. Three-quarters said, "no thanks."
KSL-TV reached out to several districts to see how they're complying with the law.
Granite, Cache, Ogden and Weber suggest school resource officers might help in this role. Even if there were enough officers to cover the schools, it could cost districts hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Provo said it might have to augment the pay of existing employees, at an estimated cost of $200,000 a year.
Canyons has considered private security, which they estimate would exceed $1 million.
Ogden is considering seeking an exemption for employees who are eligible to be guardians.
Some of the largest districts – Alpine, Granite, Davis and Salt Lake – are awaiting more guidance from the state on administrative, legal, and financial questions. For now, they're working on the required school safety needs assessments.
Washington County
While most districts are still formulating a plan, we found one district that has already hired most of their guardians: Washington.
"Anybody who doesn't currently have a concealed weapons permit, we'll put you through the class," said Ed Del Toro, safety coordinator for Washington District, while answering questions from a group of educators.
Washington could not share much about who has volunteered, because by law, the identity of these guardians is protected. Disclosing their identity is a class B misdemeanor.
But Washington leaders would say they have guardians lined up for all but a dozen of their schools; all are existing employees; and they are only receiving the $500 stipend, no extra incentives or pay.
Once districts finish recruiting, they conduct a mental health evaluation, then training starts.
In each county, it is the sheriff department's responsibility to train volunteers. Like the schools, law enforcement feels the weight and cost of this new law.
"We're going to take it to a much higher level, because if we're going to ask you to do something to protect our kids, we're going to make sure that you're ready to do it," Dustin Killpack, Washington County security chief, told teachers at an information meeting.
Important questions
Even before districts get the volunteers, they are getting questions: Who pays for the guns? The ammo? Pennington says guardians can use the stipend to buy firearms.
"I don't think it's about the money, right? The money is just a benefit to provide them with a resource for the equipment," Pennington said.
But administrators we spoke to say it is about the money. They don't want to have to choose between paying for guardians or teachers.
Every district has until the end of the year to come up with their safety plans, including staffing guardians in their schools.
