Governor wants Armed Officer in every SC School

Gov. Henry McMaster says South Carolina needs an armed police officer in every school before considering whether to arm teachers, reports The Associated Press. McMaster held a school safety summit Thursday in Columbia in response to a school shooting that killed 14 students and three staff members in Florida. McMaster says he wants at least $5 million set aside for school police officers. Many districts have officers in high schools, but they aren’t as prevalent in middle schools and rarer in elementary schools. There was no police officer at Townville Elementary School in September 2016 when authorities say a teen shot and killed a first-grader. State Superintendent Molly Spearman says she wants officers in every school, too. She also wants more mental health counselors in schools and have buildings designed to be safer.