Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register July 15 (Reuters) – (This July 15 story corrects the inspector’s name to Ragsdale from Ragland) Georgia’s second-largest school district has adopted a policy allowing staff who are not certified police officers to carry weapons, part of its response to the Texas school shooting that killed 19 children and two adults two months ago. The Cobb County school board voted 4-2 at a meeting Thursday to adopt the policy as a way to boost the number of staff carrying guns at a time when finding new police officers is difficult. The policy would bar teachers from carrying guns. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Employees authorized to carry weapons will receive the same training as certified school resources. It was unclear whether the suburban Atlanta district intended to hire new non-police security personnel or whether it would use existing employees for the role. During the meeting, opponents of the policy booed and chanted “Delay the vote,” demanding a more detailed discussion be held at an Aug. 18 meeting before the board makes a final decision. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said final approval for any staffing would go to school board Police Chief Ron Storey. Representatives of the superintendent’s office were not immediately available for comment, and the board members who voted on the policy could not be reached. In Uvalde, Texas, police took more than an hour to respond after a gunman entered Robb Elementary School and opened fire in a classroom. The delayed response has sparked a national debate about law enforcement’s response to Uvalde, as well as the risks and benefits of arming staff at schools to protect students. read more A 2014 Georgia state law allows school districts to set policies on arming teachers and other staff, but only a few have done so since the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Ragsdale said. The state school board did not immediately respond to a request for the number of districts that have allowed armed teachers in classrooms. Before the vote, Ragsdale said the district, with 107,000 students, currently has nearly 70 officers stationed among its 114 schools. “If the board gave me a blank check and told me to hire a school resource officer for every school in Cobb County, I couldn’t do it,” Ragsdale said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Randi Love in New York. edited by Jonathan Oatis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
