Across the country, new security rules will be in place when students return for the 2013-14 school year, reports Stateline. More than 450 bills on school security were introduced in statehouses this year. In most states, the changes amount to small-scale plans to pay for security upgrades like adding classroom-door locks that can be used from the inside and outside, fortifying school entrances, installing security cameras and allowing teachers or volunteers, in very limited circumstances, to carry guns on campus.
None of these are transformative solutions, said Ken Trump, a Cleveland-based school safety consultant. “Schools are trying to reassure parents … but we haven't seen a substantial investment to restore the devastating cuts to school resource officers and restart coordination with local first responders,” Trump said. In Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and North Carolina, state legislatures empowered local districts to decide if they want to allow a trained school employee or volunteer to be an armed guard at a local school.