Administrators Group Opposes Arming Teachers – School Sentinel Sponsor Defends Bill

PIERRE - The executive director of a group opposing a new law in South Dakota that allows teachers and school personnel to be armed says the measure fails to address key issues.

Rob Monson is the executive director of School Administrators of South Dakota. He says the so-called school sentinels bill fails to look at school building safety, mental health and fire and emergency response.

He says the organization was hoping the legislature would look at doing a more comprehensive study of school safety and "not sort of jump right into arming people in our schools and thinking that is the answer to it all."

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed the measure into law Friday. It's the first of its kind since the deadly school shooting in December in Newtown, Conn.

The sponsor of a bill says the school shooting in Connecticut was not the reason for the bill.

Rep. Scott Craig says he started working with federal law enforcement officials on the so-called school sentinels bill in early November. He says the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., "only affirmed the rightness of this bill."

Scott, a Republican from Rapid City, says the measure does not force teachers to carry a gun.

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