LAURENS COUNTY, Ga. — In the wake of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, officials across the country are looking into how to increase safety in the classroom. One tactic in discussion is arming teachers and staff. It's something Georgia schools are already doing.
In 2018, the Laurens County School Board voted to arm trained staffers. Since the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, we checked with superintendent Clifford Garnto to see how the policy is going, and talked to a mom at Laurens County Schools.
Jennifer Bryant has two sons in Laurens County schools.
"We're very fortunate of the forward-thinking of this board," Bryant said. "My husband and I 100% support the Laurens County Board of Education in the decisions that they've made to help protect our children."
"We do feel like the procedures that we have in place that we can limit the damage," said Clifford Garnto, the superintendent of Laurens County Schools.
Garnto says the training program includes a background check, psychological examination, and training to carry a gun before they are brought in schools.
Garnto says the firearms are safe in enclosed locations throughout the schools with a two-lock system. He says they have about 50 teachers throughout the district that are trained, averaging about five per building.
"We're in a rural community -- guns are pretty common in most people's homes, so it really wasn't anything that was taboo," Garnto said.
Garnto says principals recommend the teachers and staff for training. Then, their safety director vets those candidates.
"I know that they go through a wide variety of training so that they can be their best in these types of situations," Bryant said.
"I think it's one reason it went over so well here is because of our location, how comfortable the general population are with guns," Garnto said.
Both agree you can never be too safe
"Events like this bring you back in. You just have to reset yourself, reset your team, so that they are more aware of what's going on," Garnto said.
"At the end of the day, I know that the schools and the administrators, the staff and teachers are going to do what's necessary to keep every child and my child safe," Bryant said.
Garnto says it's kind of like having the sprinkler system in the school -- you never want to use them, but it's there in case the worst happens. Garnto says the staff goes through a weeklong training. They have their next cohort on Monday to lead into the next school year.