© William West/AFP/Getty ImagesA woman display an air soft pistol.
A school safety drill in St. Francois County hits a snag after some teachers object to getting shot at with air soft pellet guns.
Four teachers at Farmington High school contacted the Prosecuting Attorney's office on Tuesday after they were handed goggles during the "active shooter" exercise.
Associate Superintendent Sarah Long says school personnel were not forced to take part in that aspect of the drill.
"...which means when they actually go in and show you what an actual shooter situation is you can say: I don't want to be one of the victims, I think that's too scary," says Long. "Teachers could sign up to work in department meetings and in other professional developmental opportunities. We had about 45 members of the staff to do those."
Missouri State Teachers Association spokesman Todd Fuller tells KMOX News this issue has come up before in other districts.
"I think what we're going to see is a need to readdress and reevaluate the statute," says Fuller.
St. Francois County prosecutor Jerrod Mahurin acknowledges that several teachers did contact his office for "legal advice" on the matter, but have not filed a formal complaint.
The reason why weapons training with air soft weapons is so effective is that it actually hurts to get hit with a round. You become better during the training because "pain is a powerful teacher" and after getting hit a few times, you decide that getting hit is bad. Of course it is better than being actually shot, but in the above article, there is more at stake than just "principal".