Texas school allows teachers to carry guns to protect against campus attacks

The board of tiny Harrold School – which has only 113 pupils – has approved the plan and parents have not objected, said school superintendent David Thweatt.

Fatal shootings like the one at Thurston High School in Oregon in May persuaded the board of Harrold School to let teachers carry guns

Teachers can arm themselves with concealed weapons when the new term begins on August 25. 

They will need a firearms certificate and permission from officials, and must undergo crisis management training.

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It is not known how many of the 50 staff will carry guns. The school authorities believe it is better for potential gun attackers not to know who is armed and who is not.

The town of Harrold lies 150 miles from Fort Worth on the Texas-Oklahoma border, a 30-minute drive from a sheriff’s office – which Mr Thweatt said made it vulnerable.

The announcement has prompted furious debate about the pros and cons of guns in the classroom, particularly in the wake of several school shootings in recent years.

But Mr Thweatt claimed: ‘When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that’s when all these shootings started.’