Editorial: Should Pennsylvania require schools to have armed security?

Whether we are talking about individual incidents or the attacks with high casualty numbers like those in Uvalde, Texas, or Newtown, Conn., everyone agrees that children should be safe at school.

They just don’t agree on how to make that happen. Some want more gun control. Some want more mental health solutions. Others want more guns but in different hands.

On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee approved a measure introduced by state Sen. Mike Regan, R-Cumberland/York. If adopted, Senate Bill 907 would require a school to “certify to the School Safety and Security Committee that an armed school security personnel” be present during the regular instructional day. A district could make its own decisions about security for extracurricular hours.

The personnel might be police officers, school resource officers or security guards. That would accommodate places that have their own police departments, relationships with municipal departments or contracts for private armed security. It would force the issue for districts that don’t use any such options.

Sometimes that is because there are opponents of having armed personnel in schools. They may argue that such a presence didn’t help at the 2018 Parkland, Fla., shooting in which a school resource officer was on site but faced negligence and felony child neglect charges when he failed to act. He was acquitted in June.

But arguing whether a proactive measure would help is not productive. Taking any steps to protect kids is worth discussing.

The real issue is the logistics.

Not every district has that kind of room in the budget. In fact, few do, making this yet another unfunded state mandate. It’s easy to demand action when you aren’t paying the bill. Making this a requirement could force districts to pull the money from elsewhere, possibly affecting education.

Then there is the fact schools already are having trouble finding people for other jobs like substitutes and bus drivers. For that matter, so are police departments and prisons, other government agencies that would pull from the same pool.

One line in the bill says “school security personnel may have other duties as assigned by the school entity.” Would that allow the district to satisfy the law by having a teacher or janitor deputized to fulfill the requirement and carry a weapon?

Regan seems aware there are issues.

“Is it perfect? No. Is it going to be comprehensive? No. But it will give our kids a chance if there’s an armed intruder or an armed person within the school,” he told Pennlive.com.

No solution will be perfect, and we should never let striving for perfection stand in the way of just doing better. But it is important to consider whether all 500 Pennsylvania school districts could provide what would be required — especially as more police departments are closing for lack of funds and personnel.