During its regular session this week, the Kingsburg (CA) Joint Union High School board unanimously approved a new district policy that will designate up to five staff and faculty members who will be allowed carry concealed firearms on campus while classes are in session.
Kingsbury High School, with an enrollment of about 1,200 students, is located about 20 miles from Fresno.
The action marks the second school district in California to adopt a policy permitting selected employees to have firearms on campus for protection. A policy in place at Folsom Cordova Unified School District, located east of Sacramento, allows select employees to have guns on campus, although not in classrooms.
A California law passed last year allows state-authorized concealed-weapon permit holders to carry firearms on school campuses only with permission of the superintendent.
The Fresno Bee reported this week that Kingsbury employees chosen to be armed on campus under the new policy will be required to complete training approved by Superintendent Randy Morris, and their discipline record, evaluations and school conduct will also receive consideration. Morris and the Board consulted with Kingsburg police Chief Neil Dadian to create the gun policy.
Superintendent Morris stressed that the board action was not in reaction to any specific threat or incident, but rather addressing the realization that staff and students face an ever-present risk while at school.
“I am a proponent of the Second Amendment, and I’m also the biggest proponent of protecting the kids,” Morris said.
The policy, approved Monday, Apr. 11, is effective immediately.
