New York State Schools to Assign Armed Police Officers at Public Schools?

It was a wild week across the United States. Before all of the major incidents that have happened regarding guns across America, Catholic schools in Western New York announced that every single one of the Catholic elementary schools will have an armed guard at the school this academic year.

Now, parents are calling on New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to make some changes and have some armed guards at all public schools in New York State. Some parents pointed out that the tax dollars go to other New York priorities that are certainly not as important. There have been 46 school shooting so far this year in 2025 and it is nearly exactly half--half of the shootings have happened at colleges and universities and the other half have been at elementary and high schools across the United States.

All 29 Catholic Elementary Schools in Western New York are getting armed guards from a security company outsourced by the Diocese

How is it being funded? The Foundation for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo is providing some funds, but in addition tuition is going to be going up next year.

The superintendent of the Diocese of Buffalo wrote a lengthy letter outlining all of the changes and what parents and students can expect.

Responsibilities of the security consultant include:

· Campus safety oversight
· Emergency preparedness
· Policy and procedure management
· Training and staff support
· Incident management
· Risk and technology management

The letter went out earlier in the week to all families within the district.