Eric Mackey sends memo to school superintendents outlining new safety program
As schools across the state begin opening for the fall and in the wake of school shootings across the county one issue on nearly every parents mind is school safety. On Friday, State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey sent a memo to city and county Superintendents across the state outlining the suggested implementation of Governor Kay Ivey‘s Alabama Sentry Program. In May Ivey announced her new plan to provide additional security measure in schools that do not have a School Resource Officer (SRO). The voluntary program will permit administrators in schools, without an SRO, to maintain a firearm on campus in a secured safe in order to be prepared to respond to an active shooter situation. The Sentry Program will require that the administrator successfully complete training created and certified by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). Unlike teachers, school administrators have complete access to their schools and are responsible for the safety of all students at the school, not an individual classroom. In his memo, Mackey emphasized that the program is completely voluntary on the part of the school administrator, and that no school board may require their participation. He also outlined eleven steps as the suggested process for school administrators if they choose to take part in the program, including: The local board of education, in consultation with the superintendent, must decide whether to participate in the Alabama Sentry Program. The decision to participate is considered an amendment to the school safety plan in accordance with Section 16-1-44 (C)(2), Code of Alabama, 1975, which is not subject to certain provisions of the Alabama Open Records Act, Section 36-12-40, Code of Alabama, 1975. The local board of education should consult with its own legal counsel regarding any policy amendments, changes to the safety plan, as well as any open records and/or open meetings requirements. The local board of education, through its superintendent and/or legal counsel, should initiate an agreement with the local sheriff if it wishes to implement the ASP whereby the authorized school administrator is appointed as a reserve deputy sheriff. The local sheriff will vet each approved candidate to ensure all requisite qualifications are met such as mental and physical fitness for duty as detailed below. The ASP is, at its most essential level, an agreement between the local board of education and the local sheriff. Both of these entities should consult their own legal counsel regarding the type, extent, parameters, and term of any proposed agreement. A sentry candidate must be a school administrator who is properly certified by the local sheriff and works in a participating school system where the local board of education has voted to implement the program. Such a candidate who wishes to become a sentry should send a letter to the superintendent establishing his or her desire to participate. The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)issued certificates, which are considered “school administrator’ certificates for the purpose of this program are: Instructional Leader, Educational Administrator Principal and Career and Technical Administrator. The superintendent may decide whether to forward the letter to the local sheriff for full evaluation and provisional approval. If the letter is forwarded to the local sheriff, it is the responsibility of the sheriff, subject to the agreement previously made between the sheriff and the board, to determine fitness of the sentry candidate. The sheriff will be responsible for completing each of the following for each sentry candidate at a minimum: Physical fitness for duty evaluation, Psychological fitness for duty assessment, using validated instruments and in-depth personal history evaluations Drug and alcohol screening, Background check and Valid pistol permit verification. After the local sheriff validates fitness of the candidate, he or she will refer the candidate to ALEA. ALEA will notify the candidate of training opportunities and requirements. ALEA will copy the local sheriff and the local superintendent on its communications with the candidate. After ALEA has certified that the candidate has completed the required training to serve as a sentry,ALEA will certify such to the local sheriff. The local sheriff may then deputize the sentry candidate who may then be authorized as a reserve deputy sheriff as provided by law. See Ala. Code $16-1-44.1 (1975). The local sheriff will notify the local superintendent of this action. The procurement of any authorized equipment such as a firearm, ballistic vest or biometric safe is the sole responsibility of the local board of education. Read Mackey’s full memo below:
Five things you need to know about Will Ainsworth
Now that the runoff elections are over, voters are turning their attention to the November General Election less than 90 days away. After a jam-packed primary race, Guntersville-Republican State Rep. Will Ainsworth Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh garnered enough support to tip the race into a runoff election. Ainsworth won the July 17 runoff with just 51 percent of the vote. Now Ainsworth moves to the November general election, where he faces Democratic candidate Dr. Will Boyd. With that in mind, Here’s five things you need to know about Will Ainsworth: 5. His first job out of college, he served as a youth pastor After graduating from Auburn University with a Bachelors degree in Marketing, Ainsworth served as a youth pastor at Grace Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Albertville. There, he led middle school and high school students into a committed relationship with Jesus Christ. 4. He loves the outdoors, and owns a Hunting lodge in Guntersville, Ala. After leaving his job as a youth pastor, Ainsworth sought a way to incorporate his passion for hunting and fishing into his daily life. He and his brother Austin founded Dream Ranch, a popular hunting lodge in Guntersville attended by over 20,000 people annually. The lodge allows guests to hunt Whitetail Bucks, Bobwhite Quail, and Ducks all on the same property. He is also a co-founder and promoter of the Tennessee Valley Hunting & Fishing Expo held annually at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville Ala. The expo allows outdoor enthusiasts of all kind to gather for a weekend of entertainment and gives hunting, fishing, and outdoor gear merchants a place to peddle their wares. 3. Kay Ivey used his security program as a backboard for the new Alabama Sentry Program Ainsworth proposed a bill in the legislative session earlier this year, and even though the bill failed, Kay Ivey’s Alabama Sentry Program is very similar to the proposed bill. The bill proposed that school administrators, principles, and teachers who met certain qualifications would be allowed to carry a firearm on school campuses. It also required that those carrying must complete a 40-hour course in basic school policing in a program approved by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission, and pass an annual firearm re-qualification; the same test required of law enforcement officers. The only real difference between the two plans is Ainsworth’s provision to include teachers in the program, which he believes is crucial to the program’s success. 2. He’s a member of several committees in the Alabama Legislature Although all members of the legislature serve on several committees, Ainsworth serves on a wide array of committee’s integral to the state and Alabamians. Ainsworth currently serves on the Agriculture and Forestry, Ethics and Campaign Finance, State Parks, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and the Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure committees. 1. He has twin boys Ainsworth has twin boys, Hunter and Hays, who are eight years old. He coaches them in basketball, baseball and soccer. “My priorities will always be Faith, Family, and Service in that order,” Ainsworth wrote on Facebook in 2014.
Will Ainsworth ‘honored’ Kay Ivey adopted his school security plan
Republican Lieutenant governor candidate Will Ainsworth announced on Thursday that he is honored Governor Kay Ivey chose to adopt his proposal to train and arm school administrators to protect their schools in the event of an active shooter situation. “Every school shooting that takes place in another state around the country brings us one step closer to an active shooter attacking classrooms here, in Alabama” Ainsworth said. “Gov. Ivey’s decision to adopt a portion of my plan is a good first step, but we must empower teachers to defend their students against those who wish to do harm.” Ainsworth made his proposal in the legislative session earlier this year, and even though the bill, Ivey’s Alabama Sentry Program is very similar to the proposed bill. The bill, HB435, proposed that school administrators, principals, and teachers who met certain qualifications be allowed to carry a firearm on school campuses. It also required that those carrying must complete a 40-hour course in basic school policing in a program approved by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission, and pass an annual firearm re-qualification; the same test required of law enforcement officers. The Alabama Sentry Program that Ivey announced on Wednesday is “a voluntary program which will permit administrators in schools, without an SRO, to maintain a firearm on campus in a secured safe in order to be prepared to respond to an active shooter situation.” The only real difference between the two plans is Ainsworth’s provision to include teachers in the program, which he believes is crucial to the program’s success. “On the day that the Parkland, Florida school shooting occurred, I drafted legislation allowing school teachers and administrators to carry firearms if they volunteered to undergo mental health evaluations and completed thorough law enforcement training, but House Democrats and gun control advocates blocked my bill from passing,” Ainsworth said. “I am honored that Gov. Kay Ivey saw the wisdom in my school security plan and plans to arm some school administrators, but teachers should be given the option, as well. One armed administrator cannot defend an entire school, and until teachers are allowed to defend their classrooms with something more lethal than a ruler and a No. 2 pencil, our children remain at risk.”
Alabama leaders react to Kay Ivey arming school administrators
In the wake of school shootings across the county, Gov. Kay Ivey took precautionary action on Wednesday by announcing a new plan that provides for an additional security measure in schools that do not have a School Resource Officer (SRO). The new Alabama Sentry Program will permit administrators in schools, without an SRO, to maintain a firearm on campus in a secured safe in order to be prepared to respond to an active shooter situation only after the administrator successfully complete training created and certified by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). Several Alabama lawmakers have voiced their opinions on the new program. Here are some of Alabama’s reaction’s to the new Alabama Sentry Program: Attorney General Steve Marshall: “I share Governor Ivey’s concerns that every effort be made to ensure that all Alabama’s schools have the ability to protect our children by quickly responding to threats to their safety,” said Marshall. “Under the voluntary Sentry Program, specially trained administrators in schools without SROs will be ready to meet armed intruders with lethal force in order to defend students, faculty, staff and visitors. “I appreciate Governor Ivey allowing my office to review her new Sentry Program and believe it represents an effective way to bolster school safety in every community. Guntersville-Republican State Rep. Will Ainsworth: This is a good news and I want to thank @GovernorKayIvey for taking steps to protect our children. https://t.co/Pz2K5ByiOC — Will Ainsworth (@willainsworthAL) May 30, 2018 Public Service Commission President, Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh: State Board of Education member, Mary Scott Hunter voiced her opinion on Dale Jackson’s show: “It’s a good first step,” said Hunter. “I think that she (Ivey) should’ve been stronger in this interview on the deterrent aspect of it and that we don’t have SRO’s in every school; and we need somebody armed in every school. I don’t like the term resource officer, I think the term should be school security officer because we’re really concerned right now about security.”
Kay Ivey announces plan to arm school administrators
In the wake of school shootings across the county, Gov. Kay Ivey is taking precautionary action. On Wednesday she announced a new plan that provides for an additional security measure in schools that do not have a School Resource Officer (SRO). Dubbed the Alabama Sentry Program, the voluntary program will permit administrators in schools, without an SRO, to maintain a firearm on campus in a secured safe in order to be prepared to respond to an active shooter situation. The Sentry Program will require that the administrator successfully complete training created and certified by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). Unlike teachers, school administrators have complete access to their schools and are responsible for the safety of all students at the school, not an individual classroom. “The Governor’s SAFE Council recommended adding more School Resource Officers throughout our state, a solution that I support, and will work with the legislature to implement. However, until we have a concrete plan to increase the number of SROs, we must provide a way for schools to protect their students in the upcoming school year. I have created the Alabama Sentry Program to provide additional security measures for our children, and to utilize the current summer break to train those who volunteer to be a sentry,” Ivey explained. “The Alabama Sentry plan is a reasonable and measured approach to provide an additional tool for schools without a resource officer. With the unfortunate continued occurrence of school violence across our country, we cannot afford to wait until the next legislative session.” The Sentry Program will be established immediately, through administrative action, under existing law, as a bill to arm school teachers failed this legislative session. Joining Ivey for the announcement were Alabama Secretary of Law Enforcement Hal Taylor and Alabama’s new Superintendent of Education, Dr. Eric Mackey. “I believe this is a common-sense approach to increasing security in our schools. The SAFE Council worked hard with officials from around the state to create a list of recommendations. I applaud Governor Ivey and members of the SAFE Council for creating this program,” Taylor said. “School security is one of the highest priorities for law enforcement and this program will help first responders identify and stop threats quicker and before they happen.” A school administrator must seek the approval of their local superintendent, local school board, and county sheriff to participate in the Sentry Program. School administrators seeking to assume the duties of school sentry: must possess a valid Alabama school administrator certificate and a valid concealed-carry pistol permit; must be appointed as a reserve sheriff’s deputy; must be an active school administrator in a public elementary or secondary school without an SRO; and must pass a drug screening, a mental-health assessment, and a stress test. Sentries will be subject to random drug screenings, annual training, mental-health, and stress test recertification. “Schools are sanctuaries of learning and, as such, they must be safe places for our children to learn, knowing that the adults around them are watching out for their safety and security. With recent events around our country, now is the time to act,” Dr. Mackey added. “The Alabama Sentry Program is one way for us to put more safety resources in schools without having to seek new funding. This is truly a step in the right direction. I look forward to working with Secretary Taylor and the entire SAFE Council to implement this program.” A school sentry’s duties will be written to include “the use of lethal force to defend the students, faculty, staff, and visitors of his or her school from the threat of imminent bodily harm or death by an armed intruder.” School sentries shall only exercise their duties in response to an armed intruder. School sentries will be required to keep their firearms in a secured weapon storage system. School sentries, or their employing board of education, shall be responsible for acquiring and maintaining a weapons-storage system, an approved weapon, ammunition, and a specially-designed bullet-proof vest. The program is slated to be in place to start the 2018-2019 school year.
