Journal of K-12 Educational Research 15 perceive armed staff as necessary and an improvement to the security of their school. However, the research also revealed examples of inconsistent implementation of training with armed staff. All teachers shared that they wanted more training and that they value action and scenario-based training. This finding in the current study is consistent with previous research by Ciccotelli (2020), Duff (2020), and Enos (2020). Importance of the Plan The districts’ EOPs should be the model for Campus Emergency Plans. A committee on each campus is required to participate in planning for the safety and security measures of the campus. The current study revealed examples of inconsistent implementation of committee meetings and disbursement of the information beyond basic drill protocols to teachers. Teachers often did not know members of the committee on their campuses. Teachers must be invited to participate in the development of Campus Emergency Plans (TxSSC, 2022a). Importance of Leadership In line with research, teachers recognize in a critical situation, such as an active shooter event, there are multiple ways they can respond (Martaindale & Blair, 2019); therefore, the responses to an active shooter event can diversify in every situation. Teachers value working with leadership who value their thought process and the development of trust. Goleman et al. (2013) stated that everyone in a group will turn to a leader for emotional guidance and find meaning during chaos based on the leader’s response. The response to the situation can change the type or level of crisis. Addressing the situation involves the following steps: respond, see the outcome, and then respond again. Teachers want to know the next steps to emergency situations. It is not enough that they know what they will do or what the protocol states they should do; they want to know how leadership will respond and then be guided in their next steps. The current study demonstrated that teacher self-efficacy is intertwined in the efficacy of the rest of the staff and guided by campus leadership, primarily the principal of the campus. DeVos et al. (2018) stated that leaders who train teachers to respond to crises and provide supportive environments optimize the potential of the school. Communication during and after active training empowers teachers. Unexpected Findings Teachers understand the obligations of counselors to serve in many roles; however, they see an increased need for students to receive counseling as a preventive to dangerous and violent behavior including possible active shooter events. They also feel administration responds to unruly behavior of students who are “out of control” with a lack of urgency. The learning process is hindered for other students in the classroom when administrators send the disruptive student back to class without time for the student to adjust their behavior and return to class ready to learn. Respondents stated that the continual anger, noise, and misconduct causes other students to have a range of emotions, including worry and fear. As Peterson (2019) found, 78% of active shooters leak their plans. Teachers feel that is happening when the misbehavior is consistent. Teachers are asking for support from administrators when they share troubling information, including verbal threats, drawings, writing, and social media posts with administrators. Teachers feel that when they discover troubling information, the information could be tied to future threats of attacks. When the students know about the information in the moment, it negatively impacts classroom culture. Implications Current legal guidelines and expectations provide guidelines for Emergency Operation Plans, Guidelines for Drills, and Legal expectations of armed staff on every campus. However, none of these replace the fact that teachers and staff must prepare to act quickly if an active shooter event occurs at school. Teachers explicitly shared the need for training without students. Specifically, they value active shooter simulation training on their campus. Furthermore, teachers would learn from the debriefing that typically follows a simulation, which would possibly increase their confidence in their ability to respond to an active threat.
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