Officials from the Millcreek School District in Erie, Pennsylvania distributed 16-inch baseball bats to its 500 teachers as a "last resort," district Superintendent William Hall, told Erie News Now.
Teachers received the bats, which cost the district about $1,800 to buy, after they attended a training day on how to respond to school shootings.
"We passed them out, with the goal being we wanted every room to have one of these," Hall said. "Unfortunately, we're in a day and age where one might need to use them to protect ourselves and our kids."
Although Hall said the bats are mostly "symbolic," teachers have the option to use them should they need to in the event of an attack. Bats will be in every classroom and will be locked away.
"We passed them out, with the goal being we wanted every room to have one of these," Hall said. "Unfortunately, we're in a day and age where one might need to use them to protect ourselves and our kids."
Although Hall said the bats are mostly "symbolic," teachers have the option to use them should they need to in the event of an attack. Bats will be in every classroom and will be locked away.
Hall said the district also added a concrete barrier around the high school walkway and additional security measures were added at each entrance.
Jon Cacchione, the Millcreek Education Association president told Erie News Now, he agrees with the decision to arm teachers with bats.
"This is a tool to have in the event we have nothing else," said Cacchione. "Part of the formula now is to fight back, and so I think the bats that were provided for the staff were symbolic of that."
This isn't the only Pennsylvania school district to provide teachers with defensive tools. In March, Blue Mountain School District, located about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia, armed its teachers with buckets of rocks. ContinueReading
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