Arkansas School Security Officers Can Carry at Sporting Events

Arkansas School Security Officers Can Carry at Sporting Events

The seven employees authorized to carry on campus were trained by the Arkansas State Police. Those who are teachers lock their guns in a safe while they’re in the classroom.

  • By Jessica Davis
  • November 28, 2018

Norfork School District has seven employees who are allowed to carry their concealed weapons on campus during school. The district is now authorizing those employees, as commissioned school security officers (CSSOs), to carry at other school events.

The seven employees authorized to carry on campus were trained by the Arkansas State Police. Those who are teachers lock their guns in a safe while they’re in the classroom. The district also employs two school resource officers.

According to Superintendent Mike Seay, the original decision to increase their security via armed school employees came in the wake of increased school shootings across the county. The choice to allow officers to carry at school events followed, he said, because many of the officers are either parents or school officials, “and so they’re here for most of the activities anyway.”

"All that we did is we added an additional policy to our board policies to allow our CSSOs to carry their weapons at extracurricular activities and at ball games," Seay said.

According to the new policy, the commissioned officer may only draw their weapon in the case of a significant threat at a sporting event. If the officer wants to carry at a school event, they will be required to notify the law enforcement officers assigned to work the event and show them their license.

"Our thinking on that was to just provide safety to our kids every part of the day,” Seay said. “We're just as vulnerable at basketball games and extracurricular activities as we are during the school days. Probably even more."

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

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