In this photo taken July 11, 2013, a Clarksville schools faculty member, wearing a protective mask, carries a practice handgun toward a classroom in the city's high school in Clarksville, Ark., as students portray victims in a mock school shooting scenario. (Photo: Danny Johnston AP)
Story Highlights The program involves 53 hours of training Critics says teachers should educate student, not carry weapons The names of the armed teachers and staff will be kept secret
A small Arkansas school district is arming and training 20 volunteer teachers and staff with handguns for fall classes to become the first in the state to make use of a little-known state law that allows licensed, armed security guards on campus.
David Hopkins, superintendent of schools in Clarksville, says the move is in response to last year's tragedy at the Sandy Hook elementary in Connecticut that left 20 students and six staff members dead.
"We lock the door, and we hide and hope for the best. Well that's not a plan," he tells KARK-TV.
Under the new program, 20 volunteers have undergone 53 hours of training in time for fall classes and will be armed with 9 mm handguns.
"We're not just talking about passing out guns to whoever. We're putting people through some very rigorous training," says Hopkins.
Participants in the program are given a one-time $1,100 stipend to purchase a handgun and holster. Hopkins says the district is paying about $50,000 for ammunition and for training at a private training facility.
Clarksville is a community of 9,200 people about 100 miles northwest of Little Rock.
http://usadailynewsonline.blogspot.com/ reports that no Arkansas school district had ever used the law to arm teachers on the job, although the state Department of Education says the Lake Hamilton School District in Garland County has for years kept several guns locked up in case of emergency.
The AP's Andrew DeMillo quotes Donna Morey, former president of the Arkansas Education Association, as calling the idea of arming teachers "awful."
The risk of a student accidentally getting shot or obtaining a gun outweighs any benefits, she says. "We just think educators should be in the business of educating students, not carrying a weapon," Morey said.
In this photo taken July 11, 2013, practice air-powered handguns sit on a teacher's desk in a classroom at Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Ark. Twenty Clarksville School District staff members are training during the summer to be armed security guards on campus.(Photo: Danny Johnston AP)
Recent training included a mock shooting in which Cheyne Dougan, assistant principal of Clarksville High School, pulled his 9 mm handgun and fired three times to bring down a student holding a fellow classmate at gunpoint.
The district will post signs at each school about the armed guards, but the identities of faculty and staff carrying weapons will be kept secret, Hopkins said.
Hopkins tells KARK-TV that the school will be discreet in carrying out the program.
"They're not gonna be in a uniform, and they're not gonna be wagging their gun on their side," he says.
Contributing: Associated Press
