State legislators are reigniting legislation that would help insure school districts with armed staff after a shooting in Perry left a sixth grade student and principal dead.
State Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, told the Cherokee Chronicle Times Wednesday he is working with insurance companies to find a middle ground on offering coverage to districts with weapons policies. The bill is still premature, but Evans said he hopes the legislation creates partnerships as opposed to mandates.
“I don’t want a piece of legislation that forces an insurance company to provide insurance if their risk analysis says it’s not a good decision,” Evans said. “The other side of the discussion is, it’s already in Iowa Code that if schools, such as Cherokee or Spirit Lake, choose to have their own staff providing safety within the building, they should be allowed to do that in some manner.”
In June, the Cherokee School Board rescinded its policy to arm 45 teachers and support staff. Both Spirit Lake and Cherokee schools were expecting to receive coverage from EMC. That was until the insurance company reportedly threatened to deny coverage because of the weapons policy.
The Cherokee School Board surveyed 26 insurance markets when its existing carrier refused coverage. The board failed to find an insurer willing to offer multiple lines of coverage in rural Iowa, citing volatility stemming from weather-related claims destroying a high concentration of assets in a small location.
State Sen. Dave Rowley, R-Spirit Lake, representing the Spirit Lake School District is working with Evans to hopefully have a bill by today. Jan. 19 is the deadline for the Iowa Senate bills and joint resolutions to be reported out of committees.
“To say we have anything solid ready to go as a piece of legislation is not the case,” Evans said. “We’re still researching this, knowing that we have to have something in the pipeline by Friday [Jan.19] and we have got a lot of other bills that we’re sifting through.”
Last legislative session there was a provision included in an omnibus firearms bill that would’ve banned insurers from denying property and casualty insurance to school districts that arm staff. The legislation failed to pass.
In a newsletter to constituents, Rowley stated school districts should be no different than other public spaces with security measures in place.
“Other public spaces such as government buildings, museums, malls and many churches, even zoos have security measures in place,” Rowley stated in the newsletter. “Armed staff can be provided in these and other public spaces. They have insurance coverage in the event of negligence or accidents. Why are schools so different? Our schools deserve that same option to improve security with armed protection on their campuses.”
Siouxland Christian School, out of Sioux City, sent out a letter to parents at the start of January stating that anonymous staff members will now be trained and armed on campus. The private school worked out a coverage plan with Brotherhood Mutual that insures specifically private schools and churches. This differs from EMC which covers large entities including cities, schools and counties.
Brotherhood Mutual is a “more nimble” insurance company than EMC and specializes in private school coverage, allowing them to develop coverage for Siouxland Christian Schools. Evans said he hopes to develop a bill that can facilitate a similar relationship for public schools.
The exact details of the legislation is still to be determined.
“It’s a complicated problem to address,” Evans said.
Evans said he and Rowley researching and communicating with public schools have secured coverage for weapons policies, including districts in Utah and Nebraska.
“I think we have to be careful about mandating,” Evans said. “We would like the insurance company to be an active partner in coming up with a plan so schools can adequately protect their students in a manner the school board would like without forcing someone to do business in an area they don’t want to do business.”
Cherokee School Board President Jodi Thomas said the weapons policy hasn’t been discussed by the board since June.
“Arming staff is not an option at this point due to our board policies and insurance,” Thomas said.
Cherokee Community Schools review its safety plan every October by School Resource Officer Sgt. Brett Gannon. Thomas said Sgt. Gannon did another review of the school’s safety plan after the Perry school shooting.
“We are continually looking for ways to keep our schools as safe as possible,” Thomas said in an email to the Cherokee Chronicle Times Tuesday.
The district is applying for safety grants, taking input from staff, assessing vulnerabilities and exploring mental health resources for students and families. Cherokee Community School District also offers the Safe+Sound Iowa app, an anonymous school safety reporting system to identify and provide intervention for students in crisis. The Cherokee School Board will also have the opportunity to review additional building safety updates in the five year buildings and grounds plans and summer 2024 projects. The board plans to discuss these items during a work session in February, Thomas said.
“I can assure you Cherokee Schools take school safety seriously and will continue to work to make our schools as safe of a learning and working environment as possible,” Thomas said. “We are extremely thankful for SRO Gannon, members of our school crisis team, administrators and staff for working hard to keep our students safe.”
Aside from aiding schools with weapon’s policies to find insurance, Evans is exploring other options to enhance school safety. He said he hopes to amend Iowa Code to ensure funding for SROs is readily available.
“There are already funding streams available for schools,” Evans said. “But if there’s some way we can motivate schools to take a deeper look at contracting with either local law enforcement agencies or hiring their own SRO so their actually on grounds, I would love to be able to give schools board more than one option so they can do what they feel is best to maintain safety for their students.”
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