From Staff Reports

 While adding armed security at local public schools makes sense if the funding is available, Buncombe County School Superintendent Tony Baldwin opposes calls to arm teachers and other school personnel.

“We’ve had a lot of suggestions that every person in the school (system) needs to carry a concealed weapon,” Baldwin said. “With some suggestions, I step back and say, ‘What?’ We need to use common sense,” which, he said, would mean not putting weapons in the hands of all school personnel. 

In the aftermath of the recent school shootings in Connecticut, Baldwin addressed school security concerns during a Jan. 4 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners at Biltmore Square Mall in Asheville.

The school chief stressed that there is a fine balance between providing an education-friendly environment, as opposed to the constantly locked-down atmosphere of a penitentiary.

Meanwhile, an unidentified CIBO member told Baldwin, “The best suggestion I’ve heard is what South Carolina is doing ... Let the teachers have guns in the schools.”

He added that the news media does not publicize killings that were prevented because someone else, who happened to be armed, stopped a shooter or prospective shooter.

Earlier, at-large school board member Paul “Dustry” Pless Jr., who introduced Baldwin, said he is among those who have felt the pain of losing a child. “Bottom line .... if someone decides to do that (shoot people at a school), there’s not a whole lot we can do about that.:

Newly elected Buncombe Commissioner Mike Fryer said when sheriff’s deputies “have paperwork to do,” they have to go somewhere to do it. Fryar said he favors the idea of Sheriff Van Duncan having his deputies complete their papers in the schools to add to their security.

As Pless turned the meeting over to Baldwin, he concluded by asserting that “everybody on that (school) board is just as concerned about this as anyone in this room.”

Baldwin began by reviewing the history of security precautions in Buncombe’s public schools and noted the current emphasis on preparedness and prevention, mitigation, response and recovery.

Regarding the Connecticut school shooting, the school chief said, “This was a horrendous situation ... It was the most dificult time in my career ... It was an especially difficult time for the educators in the schools ... I’m sure, just like Columbine, the effect will linger.”

The afternoon that Buncombe school officials confirmed the shootings, “We did an auto-phone message sent to every parent in Buncombe County, noting that we prioritize safety.”

Baldwin added, “When a Columbine happens ... a Virginia Tech shooting occurs ... An incident like in Connecticut occurs — it sends out shockwaves.”

Further, he said, “We’ve got 26 elementary and middle schools — that’s a lot of distance to cover ... We’ve got three trained crisis teams prepared to go out, if something like this occurs... We’ve got it down to a science.”

Only the county’s high schools have school resource officers, Baldwin told the CIBO members, adding that it would cost $1.5 million to put a resource officer in every public school in Buncombe.

If the government offered the funding, Baldwin said with a smile, he would not turn down having 26 extra security providers in the schools.

“We can put a price on what SRO’s do in the schools,” Baldwin said of the respectful relationships that develop between the officers and the students.

“How does this affect the learning environment for our kids?” a CIBO member asked. “To protect them, you almost have to put them in a penitentiary.”

“I understand the emotional aspect of school shootings,” Baldwin said, although he emphasized that “school shootings are still a rarity.”

He noted that other disaster preparedness efforts at the schools include bomb threats, snowstorms or a small kitchen fire.

“We’ve had many perimeter lockdowns at Estes (William W. Estes Elementary School) because of a bear,” Baldwin said, with a note of mock drama, prompting laughter from some CIBO members.

The school chief said it is important to take the emotion out of the school security discussion because “we have to balance the environment we create for learning with the safety of the students.”

At the beginning of the breakfast meeting, state Reps .Tim Moffitt, R-Arden; and Nathan Ramsey, R-Fairview, updated the CIBO members on their hopes and plans for the state House of Representatives for 2013. 

They also noted that, while the plan to try to work with the new state Gov. Pat McCrory, a fellow Republican, they may challenge him on some issues and definitely will not merely serve as rubberstamps of his policies..

The only question after Moffitt and Ramsey spoke was raised by CIBO member Mac Swicegood, who asked, “Do either of you know where the new governor is on health care?”

“No,” they both replied.