Rapid City school leaders want cameras instead of guns in - KOTA Territory News

Rapid City school leaders want cameras instead of guns in classrooms

While a bill to give schools the option to bring guns into classrooms makes its way through the South Dakota legislature, Rapid City school leaders consider other ways to keep students safe.
 
Rapid City Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Mitchell says he doesn't support bringing guns into classrooms. Instead, Mitchell says he plans to install cameras and keyless entry systems in all schools across the district.
Those plans will start in north Rapid City. Horace Mann Elementary school, one of the oldest schools in the district, will undergo renovations this summer to make the main entrance more secure and visible to school staff.

Mitchell says he hopes to work within the school to prevent future violence as well.
 
"We need to implement systems to identify students that are disengaging from
school because many of the perpetrators of school violence have been students who were bullied or disengaged from school for some way so are there ways for us to be more active in reducing school violence," said Dr. Mitchell.
 
Mitchell says that despite recent violence, the chances are 1 in 2.7 million that a child will be killed by gun violence in schools.