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Arkansas Panel Weighs Licenses To Arm Teachers

A state board is to consider whether to permanently revoke licenses that some Arkansas school districts had been using to employ teachers, administrators and staff as armed security guards.

The Arkansas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies on Wednesday is scheduled to review the licenses that had been issued to 13 school districts classifying them as private security firms.

The panel in August had suspended the licenses after a legal opinion was issued by the state's attorney general that the schools could not use the licensing law to arm staff.

The Clarksville School District had trained more than 20 teachers and staff to work as armed, volunteer guards using the state licensing law.

State law prohibits guns on campus, but an exception is included for licensed security guards.