FARMINGTON—As part of new legislation, schools must comply with several safety protocols such as interior locks, bleed kits, secure vestibules, window protection and possibly Safety Guardians. Assistant Superintendent John Zurbuchen gave an update at a recent Davis School Board of Education meeting.

“What we’ve learned in this space is that it's ever changing,” Zurbuchen said. “What we did a year ago when the first safety bill passed and what we have today with the new legislation has changed some of the parameters and changed some of the deadlines.” 

Look at the dates, they’re out there, he said. “By 2029-2030 all schools must have video surveillance, internal classroom door locks, bleed kits and first aid kits and exterior cameras. We in Davis have met the video surveillance as well as the exterior cameras responsibility. We met that four or five years ago. We continue to add those cameras, we continue to update those cameras in terms of their acuity – we are there.”

Zurbuchen said a year ago he would have given the board a dollar figure. “Now we found out the state came up with some money – just shy of $3 million – and they will now be providing us the finances to buy the interior locks for all of the doors in all of our buildings so they can be locked from the inside easily. We’ll do an RFP on that but we have funding for it so that’s taken care of over the next year.”

They thought at the time they’d also be paying for the bleed kits, Zurbuchen said. “The state’s going to be paying for the bleed kits. They have prescribed what has to be in the bleed kits and what has to be in the first aid kits. That will be in every space where kids inhabit.”

In 2034-2035 secure vestibules will be required, he said. “We were doing that 10 years ago. So we are there, we made that 10 years ago.”

The district is great with video surveillance, said Zurbuchen. “That’s all taken care of. We have cameras everywhere. They have great visual coverage of our buildings. We’ve solved some neighborhood crime because of what we’ve been able to find on our video camera. Law enforcement has access to the cameras when there is an event.” 

The law also states very clearly that schools must have at least one armed individual in the building when school is being taught, Zurbuchen said. “Either you have an SRO (School Resource Officer) contracted with a municipality, which we have in our secondary schools, or you can contract with a private security agency or you can have what are called School Guardians.”

School Guardians are school employees, he said. “They must be school employees. That’s essential to understand first. Because when it first came out, people thought ‘it’s a volunteer.’ So people in the community could volunteer to be guardians.”

That is not allowable by law, said Zurbuchen. “They must be a school employee and not have direct responsibility for children. So that takes out the principal. That takes out all your teaching staff. Primarily what you’re looking at is custodial staff, some administrative staff other than the principal, office staff or kitchen staff.”

The law says there must be one of those three in every building at all times when the education program is going on, he said. “You can have multiple, but you have to have at least one.”

A School Guardian has volunteer status, Zurbuchen said. “It’s an employee who chooses to go. This is solely and purely volunteering. The requirements for that volunteer is first the administrator has to say ‘yeah, I’m OK with you being a guardian.’ If you pass the principal you have to have a valid carry permit. You have to have that already. Not, ‘I’m going to get it,’ I’ve already got it.”

After that, the person has to have a mental health screening, he said. “Once you’ve passed all of that you have to go get your field training. The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for organizing that training and they’ll be training at various times throughout the year. That is both tactical training as well as firearm training. If they pass that training, now they’re able to be a School Guardian.”

Guardians by statute are not publicized, said Zurbuchen. “The only folks who will know who the guardians are, are the local police, the principal, etc. They wear no insignia, they conceal carry, you would not know who they are when you walk into a building.”