Addendum: Superintendent Murley Says Adding Armed Officers to Iowa City Schools Not Feasible

When looking for reactions to this story: (NRA Calls for 'Armed Security' Around Schools; Iowans Respond) I contacted Iowa City Superintendent Steve Murley and asked him to comment on NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre calling for a new kind of American domestic security revolving around armed civilians, arguing that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

His responses arrived a few days later over the holiday break, so I wanted to add them separately in an addendum post with my questions included:

Iowa City Patch: I'm working on a state wide story on reactions to an NRA press conference where an NRA rep suggested there should be an armed police officer* in every school. I wanted to see if I could get a reaction from you on that.

First, I know you are looking at improving the safety of buildings, but is this a measure you could ever see being implemented in Iowa City schools? If so, why? And if not, why not? 

Murley: I do not believe that it is feasible to place an officer in every building in our District.  Stationing an officer in every building would require a minimum of 26 officers.  Although I have not conferred with our local law enforcement agencies regarding this type of coverage, I do not believe that the departments have enough officers to deploy one to each building.

Iowa City Patch: What are some of the most effective safety measures that you know of to prevent school shootings, from your training and research on this subject? 

Murley: There are many things we can do including securing external and internal doors, screening all employees and visitors when they enter our buildings, establishing appropriate video surveillance, and increasing our training and preparedness activities with local law enforcement.  These are examples of issues that we have been working on prior to the incident in Newtown, CT that have taken on an additional sense of urgency.

* Editor's Note Looking over Wayne LaPierre's transcript, he was not necessarily suggesting it would have to be police officers in every school, but a more broad category of "trained, qualified citizens." The question would then be how would the schools pay and regulate these citizens in each schools, but this is not a follow up question I asked Murley so his response should be taken in this context.

Also Important to Note: Safety did come up as a concern during the most recent school board facilities meeting. Murley said that consultants BLDD Architects, hired to do a walkthrough of all 26 schools to determine their condition and true student capacity, had also agreed to add an analysis of safety to their list of what to look for.

"We have had conversations with them that as they go through the building safety and security is part of their analysis." Murley told the board, adding that as a response to Newtown some additional building improvements could be greenlit. "We are looking to reallocate those resources to look at those issues. Some of those things can be done immediately."

Murley said that this emphasis on safety could supplant some projects the district had been hoping to bring forward to the board this summer, such as adding air conditioning to various school buildings. There was some push back on this by board members, who noted that overly hot buildings in the early and late school months are also a safety issue for children. This contention was noted by Murley, who said that these competing interests would need to be balanced.

Other Recent Iowa Patch Coverage on this Issue:

Red Iowa Survey: 75% Support Armed Guards in Schools; 62% Oppose Ban on Rapid-Fire Guns

To Arm with Weapons or Not to Arm with Weapons? The Iowa Patch Poll