Cobb County parents, union want gun vote delayed until next month

It’s a controversial vote  that had parents fired up in Cobb County.

Thursday night, the school board moved to hire armed staff members to support their school resource officers.

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Channel 2′s Justin Carter was in Smyrna with getting reactions from the teachers union and learning about the training these new hires will need.

The union president wanted to make this clear: After the fiery board meeting, no district employees who engage with children in any way will be authorized to carry a weapon.

But it does open up the question: How will these new hires fit in with the district’s 67 school resource officers already in place?

Jeff Hubbard is president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, the union that represents teachers in the district’s 114 schools.

“This will give the superintendent the ability to bring on additional trained individuals--hopefully retired military, retired law enforcement-- to then go through the training,” Hubbard said.

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Hubbard said there’s a lot of confusion over it because the policy was introduced and passed very quickly. He told Carter, right now, it’s about getting the information out about what can and cannot be done.

We looked through the policy: The newly hired armed staff members will have to be licensed, undergo the same gun training as certified school resource officers, and take a psychological evaluation.

“It is designed to enhance what we already have with our Cobb school resource officers,” says Hubbard.

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But Hubbard says that in the weeks ahead, he’ll be pressing the district on how the selection and training process will play out.

“The devil is gonna be in the details. Exactly what are you going to require? What educational experiences are you going to require? What work experience is going to be required in order for them to have a weapon to be hired?” Hubbard asked.

Carter reached out to the district to get those specifics and is waiting to hear back.

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