Can my principal legally make untrained teachers act as guards?
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Can my principal legally make untrained teachers act as guards?
I’m a school teacher. Since the last school shooting, my middle school principal has mandated that all teachers take turns sitting by the front entrance of our school, during our personal planning as security guards. We are a small school system with 4 schools. The high school has a resource officer. I am told that the central office will not supply a resource officer for any other school. As far as I know, the 2 elementary schools are not making the teachers guard the front door. We are suppose to be tutoring our students during our planning and were told that guarding the front door took precedent.
Asked on January 15, 2013 under Employment Labor Law, Virginia
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
This question is fraught with issues: is there a contract in place with the teachers and the school or district? Are you employees at will? Does the request violate that contract? Does your state law deal with the training of security or regulate security guards and does this action make the request itself against the law? By the phrasing of your question it would seem that you have some form of contract that requires you tutor children, no? Besides the answers to the questions that I have posed I believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with what he or she is asking of you. You are licensed teachers not licensed security guards or resource officers as you term them. You need to seek help in your area to deal with this. It is an employment issue. Good luck.
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