The Salt Lake City School District board is deciding whether to keep staffing the weapons detectors at its high schools next school year.
At a May 7 board meeting, some members were hesitant to staff them because of all of the new state-mandated security costs they are going to have to cover.
Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law a massive school security bill this year that requires each school to have someone armed with a gun on their campus. It also sets other new requirements, including panic buttons in every classroom and stronger windows.
Ashley Anderson said these growing security costs have been “forced upon us” and aren’t necessarily things the board would choose to spend the district’s money on. Regardless of whether they like the new security requirements, Anderson said they still have to structure their budget to pay for them.
“We're being asked to do this pretty much because state and federal lawmakers would rather we sink those costs than pass meaningful gun reform.”
Lawmakers allocated $100 million in one-time funds to help schools cover costs. But district Business Administrator Alan Kearsley pointed out that it won’t go very far and “once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
He estimated that it would cost the district just under $2 million annually to have an armed guard at each one of their schools. However, it might not be necessary for each school because its high schools already have school resource officers, although those police officers sometimes get called away.
Anderson also had concerns about the efficacy of the weapons detectors. A survey presented to the board at an April meeting found about a third of its high school students and about 40% of teachers didn’t think the detectors made the school safer.
“So the question I'm raising as a district board member is, can we in good conscience continue spending money on what I find to be an unproven system when we have all these other ‘asks’ coming?” Anderson said.
A district spokesperson said they do not yet know what would happen to the physical weapons detectors if the board votes not to staff them.
Expense is a big concern for many school districts, according to Teri Rhodes, Cache County school board member and Utah School Board Association president. She agrees with Kearsley that $100 million will not cover everything mandated in the new law.
Rhodes said schools get money from the state that is supposed to be unrestricted so that local districts can use it for their specific needs. But if the Legislature passes unfunded or underfunded mandates, like the school security bill, that’s where the money has to go and to her that’s frustrating.
But aside from the cost, Rhodes said districts are also concerned and confused about how they’re supposed to implement everything outlined in the bill. She has a long list of questions she’s waiting for answers to.
“We just have to throw our hands in the air because there are so many unknowns and so little money attached to it,” she said.
In a statement, Republican Rep. Ryan Wilcox, the law’s architect, said lawmakers have invested in education over the last few years, both in the weighted pupil unit and in safety.
“It’s important for our school officials to view keeping our students safe as part of their core mission,” his statement said, “and the Legislature will continue to support those who make the necessary investments to keep our children safe.”
The state security chief, Matt Pennington, is tasked with the law’s rollout and will establish safety standards with the State Board of Education. Right now, districts are required to do a safety needs assessment by the end of 2024. Pennington will also establish timelines for schools to get into compliance.
The scale of the work that needs to be done, along with the law’s effective dates, is what worries Rhodes.
“I mean, we're all going to be out of compliance because, with as large and unwieldy as the whole bill is, how do we accomplish that? It’s not possible.”
