The Lebanon School Board votes to allow school resource officers to pack heat. The district joins a group of about 20 schools in Central Pennsylvania with armed security officers.
Lebanon School District Superintendent, Dr. Marianne Bartley, says this is just another step in the process to minimize the risk. If something were to happen in the district, officers will be prepared. The board voted Monday evening to arm the two officers who patrol the district’s 7 schools. Bartley says the board has been discussing the issue for a year.
"I think people think that times have changed and they're probably not surprised to hear this," says Dr. Bartley.
She says the move is not a response to matters within the district and rather to school violence across the country.
"Anytime we can take any measures to reduce the risk of something bad from happening, that's a good thing," says Dr. Bartley.
But not everyone is on board. School board member, Cornell Wilson, was the only vote in opposition. He doesn't think the school is at the level where it requires officers to pack heat.
"I just don't think a school is where we have armed security here in Lebanon and I'm just not for it," says Wilson.
Regardless of Wilson's vote, the officers will now go through training and begin patrolling schools armed in January. The move will cost the district about $2,000.
