School Board debates reach of gun ban

District considers banning weapons on all district properties

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Staff writer

It’s not the idea of guns in schools that the Burlington Area School District is wrestling with right now – federal law prohibits that.

What BASD is trying to figure out now is whether it will increase its liability if a tragedy should occur if it bans them on other district  property.

After a discussion last week about the new state concealed carry law, the School Board appeared to want to move forward with prohibiting weapons in places not covered by federal law.

That includes the district offices on North Kane Street, as well as school property – likely the school forest or the technical education building behind Karcher Middle School.

BASD Superintendent David Moyer says he wants consistency so everyone will be protected.

“The concealed carry allows for people with appropriate permits to have weapons in their vehicles,” Moyer said. “If they have a legitimate permit, they need to leave their weapon in their vehicle.

“We are adopting a policy because we want all of our properties to fall under the no-carry provision,” Moyer added.

As the law stands now, if the school district does not adopt a new policy, any district property that is not a school – such as the district office or the tech building that houses Head Start and the alternative high school – would not be automatically protected by the federal law.

However, not everyone seemed to be sanguine about the possible ban – and the posting of signs. Roger Koldeway, one of the main protagonists in recent battles with the district over the budget, spoke up at Monday’s meeting.

He said that the way the state law is written, businesses that do not post signs prohibiting weapons may actually face less liability in the event of a shooting or other incident involving a concealed weapon.

“A sign will not stop a person who has total disregard for the law,” Koldeway explained. Tom Preusker, a citizen member of the Finance Committee, agreed with Koldeway, raising the question of liability.

Preusker also made the point that revisions and exceptions to the law seem to be evolving almost daily in the state.

David Thompson, the School Board President, said that it’s already illegal to carry a weapon in a school, and that liability should not be any further of a concern.

He later added that the policy the district had drafted came off a template provided by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

“This has gone through our legal counsel,” he said. “The law was made mainly for businesses.”

After a little more discussion, however, Thompson and the board agreed to let the school’s liability insurer check over the policy.

“Those are the people who will be responsible for providing a defense,” Thompson said. However, earlier in the meeting Thompson said, “I’d much rather be safe and post it, and worry about the liability later.”

Other business

• The School Board unanimously approved both the graduation requirements and the new weighted grading system at Burlington High School Monday night.

Students will now have to fulfill 23 credits to graduate – .5 of a credit less than what the high school currently requires. The curriculum will require .5 less in both physical education and social studies, but ask students to pick up an extra half-credit in electives.

Those changes – along with allowing weighted grades and bringing back the “D” grade – are coming about in large part to accommodate BHS’s switch back to a seven-hour day next year. The new requirements will also begin with next year’s incoming class – the Class of 2016.

Weighted grading will eliminate the A+ grade, bring back the D, and allow students to earn higher grades in both honors and Advanced Placement classes.

Honors classes will be graded at .5 higher (a 4.5 for an A, for example) and 1.0 higher for AP (a 5.0 instead of a 4.0 for an A).

• The School Board also unanimously approved a change to the school district calendar, which allows the district to line up with local private schools.

The first day of school next year would be Sept. 4.