CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — School districts are coming up with new ways to keep their kids safe and one South Texas district is allowing staff members to carry firearms this upcoming school year.
Ingleside ISD Superintendent Troy Mircovich said in a letter to parents that the district is implementing the Guardian Program, which will allow "highly-trained staff members" to carry firearms on school grounds.
"These staff members have undergone rigorous training conducted by certified law enforcement professionals," the letter said. "Their role as guardians will be solely focused on providing an additional layer of security in the event of an emergency."
Members of the Guardian Program will remain anonymous. All staff members who were chosen already had a license to carry, according to the district officials, who said program will be "closely monitored and regulated."
Mircovich said that employees within the program were carefully selected.
"Looked at individuals who wanted to volunteer and then they went through several screening things, psychological, had to be licensed to carry they also had to meet some rigorous training requirements done by DPS," he said.
Under the direction of the school bard, the security step allows the district to be in compliance with House Bill 3, which outlines measures related to ensure public school safety, the state's response to last year's mass shooting at Robb Elementary.
Ingleside ISD Safety and Testing Director Scott Kilgore said talks began even before the legislation passed.
"Helps us meet some of the requirements of HB3, which basically said every school has to have an armed officer in the school," he said. "Our guardians are not armed law enforcement officers, but they have gone through specialized training through the department of public service, safety and education course."
Signage will soon go up at campuses across the district notifying residents that staff is armed and "may use whatever force is necessary to protect our students, staff and visitors."
Another district in South Texas, Skidmore-Tynan ISD, began a similar program last school year.
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