District Says No to Armed Teachers, Still Interested in Armed SROs

Update 1:55 p.m. Jan. 8: Dorchester District Two says it does not have an official recommendation on the legislation proposed to allow teachers with concealed weapons permits to possess firearms in the classroom. Click here to read the updated story.

Dorchester County School District Two asked the legislative delegation Monday to oppose a state-proposed law that would allow teachers and school employees with a concealed weapons permit to carry on school campuses.

“I don’t support this idea or oppose it. But I do question, is more guns in our schools the only answer?” district Superintendent Joe Pye said in an emailed statement to Patch.

The district just wrapped up a security evaluation in response to last month's Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., where 20 elementary school children and five school employees were killed by a gunman.

While the district officially asked the legislative delegation to oppose the bill, officials expressed the desire to have armed student resource officers at elementary schools, an effort used by neighboring City of North Charleston and supported by the National Rifle Association. Resource officers are only present at middle and high schools in the district.

Rep. Jenny Horne agreed with the district's desire for resource officers in every school.

"You must have a resource officer in every elementary school," she addressed the district. Horne vowed to help the district obtain this goal, but expressed doubt if tight county and town budgets would allow such an expense. 

At Dorchester County Council Monday, council squeezed the budget to hire four Dorchester County deputies — the first new hiring of deputies by council since Sheriff L.C. Knight was first elected in 2008. However, these deputies will be on the roads and not in the schools, according to Knight. 

County councilmembers and Knight said they have not talked to the district further about funding or partially funding additional resource officers.

In addition to placing resource officers in schools, the district wants to add an additional buffer door so that as entrants are buzzed in, they will encounter a second set of doors, which could also halt their entry to a school. The district also proposed a possible alarm system that could be triggered by teachers from their classroom.

"Our district is in very good safety. However there is no limit on what we can do to increase the safety for our children," Pye said during Monday's meeting.