“Is it secret? Is it safe?”

That’s how the wizard Gandalf kicks off J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy adventure “The Lord of the Rings,” in which a small group of adventurers inexplicably beat an ancient, evil lord using his own weapon: a magical ring so powerful that no one in the world can know its location before it is destroyed,

Essentially, as Gandolf mentions above, as long as the ring is kept secret, the forces of good have a chance to emerge victorious.

Tolkien’s three-novel fantasy is just that: make believe. But the way some school districts are handling conversations about security these days, you’d think Gandalf’s words are their guiding principle: We can only be safe if it’s kept secret.

In recent months, in the wake of the most-recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla., many school districts in Butler County have been having conversations about security improvements and policy changes.

In mid-February Butler School District implemented a policy closing campus to the public every day, after students arrive around 7:30 a.m. The district also began stationing school police officers at campus entrances, where they stop non-district vehicles and ask for identification and the drivers’ reason for visiting the school.

In March dozens of parents and residents in Moniteau School District asked school board members to evaluate and improve security measures in the district, presenting a petition with more than 850 signatures from people who want armed police officers and metal detectors in the district.

Superintendent Sean Arney has also formed a committee to address security concerns in the district, and pledged to “throw everything on the table and discuss all of our options.”

Also in March, Freeport School Board members voted to approve $300,000 in spending to increase security throughout the district. The money will come from the district’s capital reserve fund, and the work, which superintendent Ian Magness declined to give specifics on, has been talked about for some time now.

The safety of students and the security of the schools they attend 180 days each year are of paramount importance — nothing else matters if our young people aren’t safe in class every day.

However, we are also concerned about the way some districts have chosen to approach this issue. Specifically, the tendency of some to keep secret planning discussions and even — as is the case with Freeport — what measures public money is being spent to implement.

That’s the wrong approach.

Districts shouldn’t feel obligated to release detailed information — how and where students will be evacuated; where security cameras are placed; or where school police officers will be stationed — that will jeopardize the effectiveness of their plans or security systems.

But that doesn’t mean officials should be given carte blanche to withhold any and everything from the public.

Parents, students and district residents need and deserve information that might ease their fears and help them to draw informed conclusions about the state of security at their schools. And when board members vote to spend the public’s money on security improvements, the public deserves to know what they’re getting for the check they cut.

There’s nothing dangerous about public conversations on school security.

But allowing school leaders to effectively say “We’re taking care of it; you don’t need details. Trust us”?

That’s a risky proposition.