A small Arkansas school district will arm 20 volunteer teachers and staff with handguns starting in the fall, reigniting debate about the best way to protect children in schools, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The district will be the first in the state to arm teachers under a state law that allows licensed, armed security guards on campus. The school's participants in the program, whose identities will be kept secret, will be considered security guards after undergoing 53 hours of training. “The plan we’ve been given in the past is, ‘Well, lock your doors, turn off your lights and hope for the best,’ ” Superintendent David Hopkins told the Associated Press. “That’s not a plan.” Hopkins said a wave of parent calls after the Newtown school shootings last December caused him to reevaluate their procedures, even though the town of 9,200 people about 100 miles northwest of Little Rock isn’t known for being dangerous.