CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Auditor and Republican gubernatorial candidate JB McCuskey says West Virginia’s public schools should include armed security guards to protect students and staff in the event of an active shooter situation.
“The single most important thing that every parent needs to know is that their child is going to be safe when they pick them up from school,” McCuskey said on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
McCuskey, a father of two, said he’s continuing to advocate for a bill that passed the Senate during the 2023 Regular Legislative Session, but failed in the House of Delegates.
“This is about protecting immediate safety of a large portion of the students,” McCuskey said. “This isn’t about breaking up fights. These are people that are going to be seen as police officers in the schools. They are there to protect the students from outside threats.”
SB 282, crafted by Senate Finance Committee Chair Eric Tarr (R-Putnam), would’ve established the West Virginia Guardian Program to provide public safety and security at every public school site in the state.
McCuskey said the bill is needed especially after the latest school massacre in Nashville, Tenn. where six people, including three children, were gunned down last week.
Having an armed guard at the school could deter a potential shooter from entering the building, McCuskey said.
“The woman in Nashville was going to go to another school but decided not to because they had a security guard,” he said.
Last week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said he wants to expand a school safety measure to include more armed guards at every school in the state.
Why is @WVAuditor passionate about SB 282? This bill would put an armed guard in every school. He discusses this bill with @HoppyKercheval. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/XlaBpMahb1
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) April 3, 2023
McCuskey said West Virginia has a unique opportunity, given the amount of service men and women in the state who can fill the roles of school resource officers.
“I think there’s a real opportunity when you marry the idea that we have the most veterans than any other place in the whole country per capita with this idea that we need somebody to be in these schools that can help protect students in the event that some tragedy were to occur,” he said.
Police in Nashville arrived at the Covenant School within 13-14 minutes of the first 911 call. McCuskey said while those officers are hailed as heroes for taking down shooter Audrey Hale, more could’ve been done if an armed guard was already at the school.
“Thirty seconds is a lot faster than 14 minutes. If you’ve got to get in one of those schools, my guess is that 14 minutes sounds like an eternity compared to having someone on site,” McCuskey said.