The schools in Butler County, Pa., have hired retired state troopers to serve as armed guards at all 14 of their facilities.
The move by school officials is not unlike that in several other states where school districts have looked to beef up security, reported
the Washington Post.
The school board has designated $230,000 to pay for 22 armed guards — one at every school and every after-school event — and is only hiring retired troopers with at least 20 years experience who own their own gun and can pass a 60-round shooting test.
“We might not like it, but the modern reality is our kids are vulnerable, and they need our help,” said Frank Cichra, who already has been hired to patrol one of the schools. “Nobody’s doing this job for money.”
Superintendent Mike Strutt said he added the guards because he felt that security drills and lockdown plans would not be enough if an armed shooter approached one of the schools for which he is responsible.
With a similar thought, some groups in Utah are specifically training teachers to carry weapons, some in Tennessee are hiring “security specialists,” and the National Rifle Association is readying a program to help schools either train or hire armed guards across the country.
“This could happen here,” Strutt said about why he pushed the members of his school board to approve his plan. “Armed guards are the one thing that give us a fighting chance. Don’t we want that one thing?”
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