HUTONSVILLE, ILLINOIS — If hoops need to be jumped through, this superintendent said “Hold my coffee” and jumped high. Wanting to be prepared, Julie Kraemer made the decision to enroll herself in Police Academy training. Kraemer is the superintendent of a 320-student district in a rural part of Illinois.
“If somebody comes in to try to hurt my kids, we have something other than a stapler to throw at them. We’re no longer a soft target. We have some options,” Kraemer told The Hill. “I’m just going to be a superintendent that happens to also be a police officer. … I have to be able to protect my kids.”
The budget was not there to hire a full-time resource officer, so Kraemer took things into her own hands.
She began her training a year ago, after a student in a neighboring school was shot by another student in the cafeteria. In that shooting, a teacher was able to disarm the student and stop the attack from progressing.
Kraemer possessed her concealed carry permit prior to police training, but stated that she felt it was ‘essential’ to learn this police training if faculty wants to carry a firearm on school grounds.
It sure is a lot to go through in order to carry on school grounds, but Kraemer jumped through the hoops and made it happen. In effect, her school and district is more prepared and safer as a result.
