Lincoln County School District #2 held a public forum Tuesday night with their three final candidates for the open district superintendent position.

Candidates included Dr. Amanda McAdams, Afton Elementary Principle Layne Parmenter and Osmond Elementary Principle Matt Erickson.

Each candidate was asked a series of questions put together by a committee.  The candidates were not aware of any of the questions in advance.

One of the questions asked was then asked again Wednesday to the listeners of the Weekday Wake-up on the SVI Radio Network.  That specific question was “How would you go about protecting our students and staff from harmful intruders?”

The question was timely as it came nearly two weeks after the shooting at a high school in Florida, and just one day after Star Valley High School was placed on lock-down following a threat made on social media.

The full response from each candidate can be heard by viewing the archive of the public forum, which was broadcast live by SVI Media.  A portion of their responses are provided here.

Amanda McAdams

Layne Parementer

Matt Erickson

Radio listeners were asked how they would have responded to the same question.  Below are their responses.

“You know those fake signs you can get that warn criminals that your house is protected by a security system even if it isn’t?  All we would need is a big sign that says ” This is NOT a gun free zone! Our teachers are armed!”

“We protect our banks with guns, our politicians (even the ones who want to disarm us) with guns, we even protect hospitals with guns, why don’t we protect our kids with guns? Arm teachers, arm janitors, I don’t care. But don’t just tell me that taking away guns is the answer.”

“I am willing to pay more in taxes for some metal detectors and hire security at our high school in our schools.”

“I would train teachers how to use a firearm then post their targets up on the wall just outside the main doors to show how accurate they have become.”

“Remember there hasn’t been any airplanes hijacked since 911 because they have concealed carry people on every flight.  My sister in law has concealed carried for over 10 years in Utah as a teacher.”

“Trying to picture my kids’ current teachers wielding a firearm… Not the most optimistic about that truthfully. Schools need more, better vocational & engaging curriculum. Teachers need to teach, hire security guards to protect the kids.”

“I totally agree that we need to reach out to troubled students. I also agree though that having teachers carry a gun after a lot of training would be helpful.”

“How do we protect the president? How do security guards protect the people they are hired to protect? Guns every time.”

“According to the Torah, which is Jewish law, people are required to defend themselves, defend their families, and defend their neighbors when necessary. Ignoring the opportunity to defend others from threats shows defiance towards God’s mandates.”