School officials outline timeline, exclusions and public process for new concealed-carry rules

Fremont County School District #2 trustees spent a significant portion of their May meeting discussing how the district will implement a new concealed-carry law (House Bill 172) and the board-level policy the statute requires.

District administrators said the statute sets a required public-notice timeline and gives local boards limited authority to define lawful exclusions within school facilities. The superintendent said the district is working from model policy language provided by WSBA and legal counsel and is drafting exclusions for high-risk spaces, including CTE laboratories (compressed gases), science rooms (chemicals), the kitchen (gas ovens) and the boiler room (on-site propane and diesel storage).

The superintendent outlined a likely schedule: publish the proposed rule in the newspaper to start the statutory 45‑day notice period, hold public input and a hearing during the 45–50 day window (tentatively the week of July 21), then consider final adoption the following week. He told trustees the board could pause the process at any time. “In that notice, we've got to have things such as, how does the general public get to provide us with input?” he said, describing planned options including posting documents online, making paper copies available at the district office and creating a dedicated email address for feedback.

Board members asked who would be available to answer technical or law-enforcement questions at a public hearing; administrators said they have met with DuBois Police and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and expect local officers to attend. The superintendent said legal counsel will review the final rule language before adoption but said an attorney need not be present at the public hearing.

Administrators also explained steps following adoption: the district would issue a request for proposals to identify qualified firearms instructors, specify required live-fire and scenario training hours, and then implement a certification and application process for staff and volunteers who wish to participate. The superintendent cautioned the training and certification steps could mean the earliest staff could be authorized under a local program would be about a year from now. He also noted the statute provides that, in the absence of local policy, individuals with state concealed-carry permits may have the statutory right to carry on district property beginning July 1.

Trustees voted to move a scheduled work session from June 3 to June 2 to allow publication timing that would start the statutory notice window if the board chooses to move forward.