MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A future Mobile County School Board member speaks out against arming school resource officers.

But he may not have a say.

Johnny Hatcher doesn’t officially take his seat on the school board until January, but he’s adamantly opposed to bringing guns into schools.

He thinks it’s the job of the police, not the school.

“Let the police take care of the maintenance of order. We take care of education,” Hatcher said. “At the end of the day, it’s a matter of public safety.”

School board members all agree on one thing, safety is the number one concern.

Hatcher thinks there is another way to protect them.

” I’m against. And the reason I’m against it is if you take and have an armed resource officer in the school and he walks around or whatever a fight breaks out, he needs to get involved,” Hatcher explained. “So this weapon is in play. It can become a very bad situation.

Following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May that left 19 students and two teachers dead, Hatcher said students should never be afraid to go to school.

He thinks Mobile County should consider options in other nearby school systems.

“There is a better way. How are we going to look at Baldwin County and how are they doing it,” Hatcher said. “They have a deputy or a licensed officer in uniform, depending on the area outside of the schools, and it’s not a better deterrent than that.”

In contrast, other school board members are in favor of arming SROs.

One of them is District 2 school board member Don Stringfellow.

“It’s something I’ve been supporting for a while and I still support the idea,” Stringfellow said. “But it’s an integral part of the whole overall security plan. And we’re looking forward to the superintendent coming back with a recommendation.

It is unclear when the council will vote on this issue.

The superintendent and other school staff are awaiting further recommendations.

Mobile County School begins Friday, August 4.

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