<font size=1 face="helvetica, arial, geneva"><B>BY HILARY GROUTAGE<BR>THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE</B></font><br>
<br>
<br> A decision to ban guns and build a new elementary school by 1999 dominated a lengthy meeting of the Salt Lake City Board of Education on Tuesday.
<br> About two dozen residents of the northwest area of the city attended the meeting to urge members to move forward quickly with plans for a new school.
<br> ``Do not think in terms of election votes and make a decision that will haunt you for the rest of your lives,'' said former board member Tab Uno, who lives in the area. ``Many students have waited and suffered for six years. We have waited long enough.''
<br> Parent Michael Steed said the schools are so crowded that students in Newman Elementary's resource program have been moved from the copy room to the boiler room to receive the extra instruction they need.
<br> ``We can no longer allow these children to suffer,'' he said.
<br> In the end, board members went against Superintendent Darline Robles' recommendation to hold off until fall of 2000 to open the new school and voted instead to adopt a ``fast track'' approach and complete the school one year sooner.
<br> ``I cannot guarantee the quality of the school in 1999,'' Robles said.
<br> Also opposing the move was board President Karen Derrick, who said since this would be the first new school built in the district in 26 years, board members should proceed cautiously.
<br> The comment drew groans from parents in the audience.
<br> ``I recognize there are some issues and challenges here, but we can do hard things and be successful,'' said board member Cliff Higbee, who represents the northwest part of the city. ``We've got a whole community who recognizes the problem that has been out there for seven or eight years.''
<br> The motion, which included an amendment not to close another school in order to open the new one, passed four votes to three.
<br> But the board was unanimous in its support of a measure that requires teachers, volunteers and administrators with a fondness for firearms to leave their guns at home -- even if they have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
<br> The policy passed with little discussion, except a boost from Salt Lake City's Assistant Chief of Police Steve Chapman, who said the policy is ``sound.''
<br> ``There are just too many guns on the street and in the schools,'' Chapman said.
<br> The policy states that personnel may not carry or possess a firearm, loaded or unloaded, or anything that even looks like a gun on district property, buses or in parking lots. Guns used for demonstration purposes would be exempt from the policy.
<br> Dolores Riley, assistant superintendent, human resources, said the measure came about after two complaints earlier this school year that district employees were carrying guns. In both cases, she said, colleagues turned the person in.
<br> ``When I called them in, they were not angry so much as surprised, because they had a permit. Most have been reasonable, but some have chosen to leave the district,'' she said.
<br> Students already are prohibited from carrying firearms as part of the state's Safe Schools Policy, and the district's legal counsel John Robson said it was within the law to restrict employees' rights to carry guns.
<br> ``We go through metal detectors in airports and in courthouses. People's right to possess and carry firearms are curbed all the time,'' he said.
<br> The 1995 Legislature made it easier to obtain permits to conceal and carry firearms. But Gov. Mike Leavitt recently banned state employees from carrying firearms in state buildings or on the job.
<br> At Highland High School, junior ROTC instructor Gregory Smith said he favors such a policy.
<br> ``I know we have quite a diverse population here at Highland and I have never been afraid for my life. I don't think I'm ignorant or naive, I just don't think weapons are necessary here,'' he said.
<br> Elaine Tzourtzouklis, president of the Salt Lake Teachers Association, echoed Smith.
<br> ``Teachers just don't have any concern [about the policy] at all,'' she said.
<br> When the policy was first discussed in December, Tzourtzouklis voiced opposition to applying the policy even to teachers' cars parked in school lots.
<br> ``I can understand why they say that now. Anyone could break into your car,'' she said. ``Besides, if we are going to have these policies for kids, we can't expect them to do it we we're not going to do it too.''
<CENTER><hr noshade size=1 WIDTH=400><font size=2>Contact The Salt Lake Tribune or Utah OnLine by<A HREF="/help/letters.htm"> <B>clicking here</B></A>.</font></CENTER>
