They say don’t mess with Texas. You probably shouldn’t mess with its teachers either, at least in one school district.
The Medina Independent School District put up a sign last week at one of its entrances warning people that teachers and staff there may be armed.
“Please be aware that the staff at Medina ISD may be armed and will use whatever force is necessary to protect our students,” the sign reads.
Did something happen recently at Medina, a 300-student district just a little more than hour northwest of San Antonio, that’s got folks super worried about safety?
No, said school board member James Lindstrom, who said there was no specific incident, just the “general environment nationally.”
School superintendent Penny White thinks the sign will be an excellent deterrent.
“I think that anybody who might have a thought about harming someone in mind might think twice about it,” White told CNN affiliate KSAT.
White also said the school district’s somewhat remote location in a rural part of the state was another factor in erecting the sign.
Parents’ reaction
A lot of parents seem to be OK with the sign, citing the string of school shootings over the years.
“Schools have been a target for, for lack of a better word, crazy people, and I’m perfectly fine with it,” said Jillian Sides, who has two sons, one in 7th grade and one in kindergarten, at the school.
Right now the sign is only at one of the school’s entrances, but other signs will eventually be placed at other entrances, so no one can say they weren’t warned.