Ingram ISD superintendent Bobby Templeton provided the program last Wednesday on the School Marshal Program in Texas.
 
The program was authorized by Texas House Bill 1009, and allows school districts an option to arm existing employees to protect students and staff from armed intruders. Staff can be teachers, administrators or other employees, and they go through an intense screening and training program to qualify.
 
The training consists of an 80 hour program through an academy licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, as well as psychological evaluation. Marshals participate in  additional training during each school year, and are provided instructions on first aid and crisis intervention. The State of Texas covers the cost of the training, but individual school districts pay any additional costs and stipends to the marshals.
 
Ingram ISD has several marshals, and is also in the process of implementing additional security measures. Although the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 in Colorado seemed to usher in the age of mass shootings in schools, school shootings in the USA have occurred as far back as the 1800's.