KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Teachers in the Kansas City Public School District are turning to their union leader, raising concerns over the idea circulating about equipping them with weapons.
"Teachers have so much on their plate now, I don't think they need to be armed," Andrea Flinders, President of Teachers' Union Local 691.
In a White House roundtable on school safety Thursday, President Donald Trump said shooters would be scared away from a school they knew had armed teachers.
"Instead of advertising 'this school has no guns, we are gun free,' you let people know the opposite, nobody's going to attack that school," President Trump said.
The president also argued against holding active shooter training drills in schools claiming the exercise upsets children.
"What happens if a teacher accidentally leaves a gun where a child can get it?" Flinders said.
The head of KCPS security told 41 Action News they do re-evaluate their security plans after an incident like Parkland, Fla.
"We have tightened security parameters and security processes that we take seriously and we take pride in making sure our schools are safe," Luis Cordoba, the chief student support and intervention officer at KCPS said.
Cordoba oversees a staff of 74 and KCPD provides an additional six school resource officers.
"Even with training you can train for a week or two to hold a gun, fire a gun, load a gun, but to me it's more than that," Cordoba said.
"Teachers have a difficult time getting paper and pencils for their classrooms, now we're talking about arming them with guns and ammunition? I just don't think it's a good idea," Flinders said.
