The President of the Harrison County Board of Education says he thinks there should be an armed guard in every school.
“We have armed guards for all of the federal judges. We have armed guards now at courthouses in all 55 counties. It’s time that we consider that,” Mike Queen says.
He says those trained school guards will serve as deterrents .
In Harrison County, there are already armed guards, called Prevention Resource Officers, in each high school, one middle school and the Alternative Learning Center. Those officers are from the Clarksburg Police Department and Bridgeport Police Department.
A total of 17 schools in Harrison County do not have guards, though.
Queen, a guest on Thursday’s MetroNews Talkline, says, in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, he thinks that needs to change.
“We have schools, here in Harrison County, that are actually larger than the Newtown, Connecticut school. So, that really hit home for a lot of us school board members who really take this safety thing seriously,” Queen said.
He says he wants the Harrison County Board of Education to hold a town hall meeting to look at the possibility of guards, each school day, along with larger school safety issues, including continued improvements to secure school entry points.
Last week, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called for armed guards in every school to prevent future mass shootings.
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” LaPierre said.
That call came after a 20 year old man shot and killed 20 kids and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.