After a three-year process, the Amity Regional School District will be transitioning some existing and qualified school security staff to armed school security officers.
Starting Oct. 1, the district will have at minimum one armed security officer in each school building.
The addition of the officers was a goal of the Ad Hoc Amity School Security Committee.
“The armed school security officer is not intended to replace the members of law enforcement who currently serve as school resource officers, but rather, to enhance safety in our schools during times when SROs and other law enforcement officials are not able to be in our school buildings,” the district wrote in its latest newsletter.
In addition to securing entry to the school, school security staff assist at arrival and dismissal, monitor security cameras, hallways and bathrooms, supervise the cafeteria and parking lot, and assist in other non-instruction settings and events.
The Connecticut General Assembly passed legislation in 2013 allowing boards of education to employ retired police officers to provide school security services. These officers must have retired in good standing from a local police department or the state police department and are required to participate annually in firearms training and training specific to the duties of a school security officer.