Arkansas School Posts Sign Warning That Teachers Are Armed, Gunmen Will Be ‘Met With Deadly Force’

[Lee-Lee]

36. If I was advising them

I would agree that teachers first priority needs to be locking down the classrooms or getting out, depending on situation an building layout.

I would see far more value in having non-teaching staff armed. A principal or vice principal, IT staff, etc. They don't have direct custody of kids, so could better be in a position to 1: see the shooter first as he enters, as happened at Newtown, and 2: intervene without abandoning kids, buying time for the teachers to protect the kids.

If a teacher was armed, my advice would be they need to move the kids to the farthest corner away from the door, then position themselves behind cover away from the kids, not with the kids behind them, and be prepared to shoot as soon as the door opens and threat is verified.

But as a practical matter, it makes more sense for non-teaching staff to be the ones you arm. Something like one of the fingerprint activated safes in the principles office, with only the fingerprints if trained, approved staff loaded to open it. That way it is away and secure unless the worst happens and it is needed.

This assumes, of course, a proper trainibg and qualification program. For a person familiar with handling firearms anyway, about 40 hours training would be enough for a good program. I wonder who trained them and to what degree....