Most Dallas-area educators won’t be armed this school year despite a new state law that allows concealed handguns on school campuses. For the most part, school district police departments have focused on ramping up current campus security —fortifying doors and installing more cameras— instead of arming teachers. Argyle ISD, in southwest Denton County, has approved having marshals on campus.

“Let’s focus on the things we can control, which is the day-to-day security, like locking the doors,” said Dallas ISD Police Chief Craig Miller.

The controversial Texas school marshal program was authorized after the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in 2012, in which 20 children and six educators were killed in Newtown, Conn.

Under the law, educators selected by the school board must undergo 80 hours of training through the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement to carry a concealed handgun on a school campus.

Seven educators from across the state went through the marshals training class in July at Tarrant County College.

It’s a program that is best-suited for rural schools where police responses might be slower, Miller said. After Sandy Hook, local district officials started looking at ways to beef up protection on school campuses, especially at elementary schools, which traditionally had fewer security cameras and more open doors.

Many North Texas educators now use electronic key cards to get into the side doors of school buildings, including all DISD schools and campus visitors must go through the front office.

Optical eye ports have been added to DISD portable classrooms so teachers know who?s outside before opening the door, Miller said.