Add body armor to the list of supplies some Arkansas leaders now want schools to have on hand.

Members of the Arkansas School Safety Commission voted today to recommend that school resource officers should have immediate access to a ballistic helmet, a medical first-aid trauma kit and forcible-entry tools. The panel said the officers also should have a ballistic shield but that the schools, not each officer, should keep that on hand.

According to Wikipedia, ballistic shields “are protection devices deployed by police, paramilitary and armed forces that are designed to stop or deflect bullets and other projectiles fired at their carrier.”

Washington County Sheriff and commission member Tim Helder noted these safety measures are needed because people opening fire in schools sometimes have assault rifles. Indeed. And that’s partly because neither our state legislators nor Congress will  better regulate these weapons that no ordinary American needs.

The School Safety Commission, appointed by Republican Governor Hutchinson, is preparing a list of recommendations to forward to him in October.

Others approved today included one saying all schools should have a grand master key system for each campus so that authorized personnel could gain entrance in an emergency.

The commission also approved a recommendation that the best way for schools to protect classrooms with glass between a classroom and a hall corridor would be to add a shatter-resistance film to the glass. That would protect those inside the room from any bullets fired in the corridor.

Earlier, the panel heard from four parents of schoolchildren. Two of them expressed concerns about what comes into the school — in students’ backpacks or clothing, for instance.

Even when all doors are locked, parents Dee Blackwell of Fort Smith and Scott Erwin of Perryville said the threat so often “seems to come from within.” Erwin, who’s a volunteer coach and a firefighter, also suggested an outside person be used to review a school’s safety system.

Blackwell noted that school employees already are overwhelmed with work, especially at the beginning of the school term, and said more people are needed to help the schools. “You pack on as well a student who is maybe having a mental health crisis,” and more help is needed. She noted that funding is, of course, a problem.

“We can always use more hands … more people on the ground. More staff and more help are areas that need more attention,” Blackwell said.

We won’t wait for Arkansas legislators to spend enough money on public school teachers or counselors to make a difference anytime soon, though.

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