LAUREN' COUNTY — Staff members who work with Laurens County schools have been training this summer to carry guns.
Staff members are are able to volunteer if they want to do so.
13WMAZ took a look at what security improvements the school district has made and how the new gun policy will work.
School shootings are not uncommon and that's the reason Laurens County School Superintendent Dan Brigman says it's time to add this new layer of security to preserve lives.
Students in Laurens County have a few weeks until the bell rings for the first day of school, but this year security is going to be tighter.
The board voted in April to arm trained teachers, a thought that makes Robert Smith a father of three a little uneasy.
"I think a teacher should know how to use a weapon but for them to carry it on them at all times is a little overkill," Smith said.
Brigman says in addition to school resource officers in all nine schools, this is just another way to keep children safe.
"Preservation of life, God help us that we hope we never see an active shooter on one of our campuses, however I can assure today that there is internal capacity to give resistance and confront any threat that occurs within in the Laurens County school system," Brigman said.
Under the policy, the public would not know what staff members are carrying weapons and Brigman says that information will not be released.
Adding in order for the policy to work, they can not give a potential intruder any extra information. Brigman says his district realized traditional security was not working.
"We have the internal capacity rather then we are moving on with the status quo," Brigman said.
"What we have seen done across the nation was not working, so we need to add another approach in addition to what we have with our lockdown procedures."
But with Laurens County revving up security Smith believes when it comes to parenting it all starts at home.
"As parents, we need to teach our kids to be resilient and not result into violence," Smith said.
Brigman says that all Laurens County schools have security cameras, secure doors across the campuses and checkpoints at the first office to make sure nobody is trespassing.
Additionally, the Laurens County Sheriff's Department will continue patrolling schools in the county throughout the year