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Arkansas AG: Schools Can't Arm Teachers, Staff

Arkansas' attorney general says school districts can't use a state law to employ teachers and staff as licensed, armed security guards on campus.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Thursday said in an opinion issued by his office that the Arkansas board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies doesn't have the authority to license school districts to employ teachers and staff as armed guards.

The opinion was requested after the Clarksville School District began training more than 20 teachers and staff to work as volunteer security guards who would carry concealed weapons on campus.

The superintendent of the district said the opinion likely meant the schools couldn't continue with that program.

A state lawmaker requested the opinion the day after The Associated Press reported about Clarksville's program.