North Hills School District Moves Forward With Plan To Arm Security Officers

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ROSS TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- After the school shootings we've seen, it's a step more districts are taking: arming security officers.

The North Hills School District passed a resolution Thursday to move forward with a plan for armed security officers in its schools.

One officer would be assigned to each elementary school, and two officers would patrol the middle and high school campus.

But several parents told the board that armed officers aren't the answer to keep kids safe.

One mother said: "I'm greatly concerned and stunned about the decision to put armed, underline armed, officers in North Hills buildings."

Parents pointed to programs that might help identify troubled students and the possibility of accidents with firearms. At least one cited that there's no evidence that armed officers deter school shooters. Others asked the board to do more research before voting.

Still others applauded the idea of officers with guns considering the times we're living in.

One mother said that she has an: "Awesome feeling inside that North Hills is going forward with putting armed security in our schools."

Another woman shared the terror her family felt when her niece was a student at Columbine during the shooting there. She says it was agonizing until they knew she was safe.

"Yeah, you don't want to have guns in an elementary school, but I also don't want to get the call that my sister got back then," she said.

An armed school security officer from Keystone Oaks explained how he's developed a rapport with the kids.

Officer John Bruner said: "In my four years, I've had students come to me and say I'm having a bad day. I hate these two people for 'X, Y, Z' reason, and I think I'm going to hurt them."

A union representative said that teachers took a vote, and that 92 percent of them favor armed officers. In the end, the board voted 7 to 2 to move forward with the first step toward having armed officers.

It's important to note that the superintendent told the crowd that this is just the first step.

He says they still have to draw up job descriptions, policies and procedures all of which needs to be approved by the board.