Since You Asked: Students allowed transfers out of gun-toting teacher's class

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If the South Medford High School English teacher wins her case (and I pray she doesn't), will students have the right, for personal safety reasons, to not have her as their English teacher? Will parents be allowed to pull their sons and daughters from Shirley Katz's class for safety reasons?

— Dean L., Medford

A Jackson County Circuit Court judge's decision on whether a teacher may carry a concealed weapon at her school could influence how the Medford School District handles certain parent and student requests to transfer out of particular teachers' classes.

The district and Shirley Katz, a South Medford High School English teacher who wants to carry her handgun on campus, are scheduled to appear in court at 2 p.m. Thursday to present their arguments.

As of Friday, a few students had already transferred out of Katz's classroom, said Principal Kevin Campbell. An exact number could not be immediately confirmed.

Medford schools Superintendent Phil Long said the district would do what it can to satisfy any parent and student requests to transfer their children to other classes.

The district's general policy has been to allow such transfers as long as they don't create an imbalance in the number of students in each class and as long as students are enrolled in a class that meets their academic needs.

The question of whether students would be able to opt out of a class where a teacher is carrying a concealed weapon is new territory for the district.

"Under the unusual circumstances, we would probably problem-solve based on the decision of the courts," Long said.

The ruling on the case will likely be groundbreaking for other districts in the county, as it will determine whether districts have the authority to ban teachers' possession of concealed weapons on campuses, a privilege given to the general public with established restrictions in certain public places, such as commercial airline flights.

Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to youasked@mailtribune.com.

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