Nearly 50 employees at Jay School Corporation volunteered to have access to school-owned guns in the event of a school shooting.  As Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Barbara Brosher reports, the rural corporation’s board could soon take the final steps needed to give some of them a way to respond to trouble before police arrive.

The district conducted background and drug tests, and brought in a psychologist to screen the nearly 50 Jay School Corporation employees who volunteered.

Superintendent Jeremey Gulley says the district selected about one in four volunteers to go through hands-on training. They had to pass the same handgun qualifications test police take in order to access the guns.

“The standard for police officers in Indiana is to receive an 80 percent score,” Gulley says. “The sheriff and I insisted our volunteers on the staff achieve a higher score. So, all our volunteers achieved a 90 percent score on that test.”

The school board is expected to vote on whether to authorize access to guns for those employees next month.

The guns will be kept in locked safes at each Jay County school.

It’s part of the district’s three-pronged approach to improving school security, which includes prevention, hardening and arming.

Gulley says they also spent about $900,000 to secure schools with upgrades, including bullet-resistant film on windows.

And, he hopes to make more improvements with a little help from the state.

“We’ve requested $500,000 in the Indiana Common School Fund loans,” he says.

Gulley says he thinks schools should be able to use those loans to implement policies that give employees access to guns.