School safety was a recurring concern at the Legislative Education Study Committee meeting in Las Vegas. Superintendents described long emergency response times in rural areas and urged more resources for school security. The committee's lawmakers asked whether districts would support allowing teachers with concealed-carry licenses to carry firearms on campus; superintendents expressed mixed views.

Why it matters: rural districts reported response times measured in tens of minutes to an hour for law enforcement. Superintendents said that delay increases pressure to provide on-site security and that options to address the risk vary by community capacity and policy.

Pecos Superintendent Deborah Sena Holton said, "School safety is huge for me. It takes 40 minutes for a state police officer to arrive on campus at Pecos. That's huge." West Las Vegas Superintendent Chris Gutierrez said his district hires retired, certified officers as armed resource officers and crafts memoranda of understanding with county law enforcement for satellite campuses. "We've moved forward with hiring retired police officers that are actually still certified to carry," he said.

When asked whether teachers with concealed-carry licenses should be permitted to carry, responses split. One superintendent said privately that he would support concealed carry in a remote campus. Another said she would not: "I personally would not. I think there's a high risk ... someone getting a hold of those weapons," citing concerns about training, student access and liability. Several superintendents favored hiring retired officers because they have police training and certification.

Panelists asked lawmakers to consider funding for school security positions, structured MOUs with law enforcement, and—where districts choose it—robust training requirements.

The committee did not change any state policy at the hearing. Lawmakers signaled interest in exploring funding mechanisms for security staff and in further discussion of the risks and training requirements around armed staff in schools.

The superintendents' positions underscore a tension: rural districts with extended response times seeking local, trained security personnel while other leaders worry about the risks of arming non-police staff without police-level training and certification.