TexasCHLforum.com

Welp, I asked one of the senior members in a PM, but we couldnt come to a conclusion so I will make it a public conversation and get more opinions:

Im student teaching at a elementary campus here in town. Im not an "employee" of San Angelo ISD. Am I covered under the parking lot law? I seriously doubt I am, and the way I read it even the employees of SAISD arent covered. Anyone? Or should I just call the police chief?

snatchel wrote:Welp, I asked one of the senior members in a PM, but we couldnt come to a conclusion so I will make it a public conversation and get more opinions:

Im student teaching at a elementary campus here in town. Im not an "employee" of San Angelo ISD. Am I covered under the parking lot law? I seriously doubt I am, and the way I read it even the employees of SAISD arent covered. Anyone? Or should I just call the police chief?

In my opinion you would not be covered as you are 'working for' the school district. Now, the only thing is I believe you would be legal having it in your car, but you could still be dismissed from the student teaching job and the parking lot would not cover you. And, the Police Chief would be the last person to ask as they are usually not up on civil law.

The new law doesn't apply to school districts, so nothing changed for you.

bayouhazard wrote:The new law doesn't apply to school districts, so nothing changed for you.

And, imagine what your university will do when your supervising teacher reports that you're no longer welcome on campus because you violated the state "no weapons" law.

bayouhazard wrote:The new law doesn't apply to school districts, so nothing changed for you.

That was my line of thought as well....

I suspect that your university has a 'no guns' policy, and even when student teaching miles away from your university proper, you are still in class, essentially in a university classroom. Your US may not even get a chance to do anything of the provost or dean of students catches wind of this. Sad but true story.

Right now I suggest you focus on completing your student teaching successfully without making any waves or raising any flags. You have put much into completing a program and without a state law to fall back on, I would simply not risk it. Graduating in December and all, I am guessing.

Ymmv. Good luck, we need good teachers, and we need teachers who do not subscribe to the same garbage that much of higher ed does.

seconds

snatchel wrote: Im not an "employee" of San Angelo ISD

Or are you? I've never student taught, so I'm not exactly sure of all the in's and out's. My company "hires" several Interns throughout the year. These are non-paid internships. One would assume that because these intern's are not receiving pay or benefits from my employer that they are not considered employees. Wrong. At least the way I understand it. They are employees and subject to the same corporate policies that I am subject to. Which makes since to me because while interning here, they are representing our company and "brand". So why wouldn't they be held to the same standards as "full-time" employees.

I'm obviously not a lawyer, but I would bet that your student teaching would be considered the same as an internship and therefore you could actually be considered an employee of the district. Is there a parking lot not owned by the school that is close by that you can park in and walk?

I was not a student teacher, but I did some volunteer tutoring for a few 8th graders while I was in college. I was not an employee of the school or school district and was not required to read or sign anything like an employee agreement when I was there. This was just prior to CHL in about '92 or '93.

Snatchel, are you being paid by the school? Did you have to read anything like an employee handbook with their policies?

SB 321 clearly states it doesn't apply to "a school district" so I believe his relationship to San Angelo ISD makes no difference. They can prohibit guns in the parking lot (by policy) for employees, contractors, volunteers, et cetera. No different than last month.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/ ... 00321F.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

apostate wrote:SB 321 clearly states it doesn't apply to "a school district" so I believe his relationship to San Angelo ISD makes no difference. They can prohibit guns in the parking lot (by policy) for employees, contractors, volunteers, et cetera. No different than last month.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/ ... 00321F.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

True, but for our purposes I didn't know if a volunteer was also defined as an employee. Snatchel may not be a volunteer and be getting paid by the school, which makes the remote possibility of a volunteer being able to have their gun in their vehicle the same as a parent dropping their kid off or attending a play a moot point.

C-dub wrote:

apostate wrote:SB 321 clearly states it doesn't apply to "a school district" so I believe his relationship to San Angelo ISD makes no difference. They can prohibit guns in the parking lot (by policy) for employees, contractors, volunteers, et cetera. No different than last month.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/ ... 00321F.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

True, but for our purposes I didn't know if a volunteer was also defined as an employee. Snatchel may not be a volunteer and be getting paid by the school, which makes the remote possibility of a volunteer being able to have their gun in their vehicle the same as a parent dropping their kid off or attending a play a moot point.

right, the question is whether or not he would be considered an employee. If not, he can have it secured in his car in the parking lot.

Bulldog1911 wrote: right, the question is whether or not he would be considered an employee. If not, he can have it secured in his car in the parking lot.

Can you show me where the law says that?

apostate wrote:

Bulldog1911 wrote: right, the question is whether or not he would be considered an employee. If not, he can have it secured in his car in the parking lot.

Can you show me where the law says that?

Yes, once my google-foo returns in the A.M.
But basically, the law prohibits carry on school premis or where school activity is taking place. Premis is then defined as a building, not sidewalk, parking lot, etc. So you can have your weapon in your car in the school parking lot.

Also, the Gun-Free School Zone act doesn't apply to individuals that have a CHL in their state of residence. So, you live in Texas and have a Texas CHL, this doesn't apply to you.

penal code 46.03:

(1) on the physical premises of a school or educational institution,
any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or
educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation
vehicle of a school or educational institution, whether the school or
educational institution is public or private, unless pursuant to written
regulations or written authorization of the institution;

I don't see any distinction between employees and others in the part of 46.03 concerning schools. What am I missing?

As I wrote earlier, I don't believe it matters if the student teacher is an employee, contractor or volunteer with respect to the elementary school. SAISD is a school district and therefore SB 321 does not apply to SAISD. (Is it wrong that I keep wanting to type that as NSAID?)