Schools across Butler County should be commended for taking necessary steps this year to ensure the safety of their students. This past week, the Mars School District approved an agreement to form a hybrid school police force.

This is a good move and money well spent. In 2019, there have already been more than 40 incidents nationwide in which shots were fired on school grounds. During two incidents in April, students were shot — and in one of those shootings, people died.

In the years since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado — for which memorials were recently held for victims upon the massacre’s 20th anniversary — more than 200 people have been killed and numerous others injured in more than 240 school shootings.

Butler County had a few scares this year. In January, a Knoch High School student was seen in a Snapchat video firing an AK-style weapon with the caption “Training for prom walk,” while in April a teenager was accused of posting threats on social media against the Butler Vocational School and Butler Senior High School.

In other words, the Mars district’s plan for a hybrid school police force is a good one. Under a deal between the district and township, two full-time officers from the Adams Township Police Department would be permanently stationed in district schools at a cost of $150,000 per school year. In addition, retired law enforcement officers would provide extra security.

The township will vote on the plan at its May 13 meeting. Thankfully, the board is expected to approve it.

The school district’s proposal is the latest in a long line of initiatives put forth this year by local schools. Mars recently launched a new security system that would require adults visiting all buildings within the district to provide identification that would be checked against a sex offender database.

The South Butler School District has considered bringing the violence reduction program Rachel’s Challenge — which is named after the first student killed during the Columbine massacre — to the district, plans to add metal detectors to all South Butler schools and has approved funding for additional radios and handcuffs for school police officers.

Funding has also been approved for alterations to Butler High School’s security entrance, where visitors have long been able to gain entry without a buzzer. The district has also been considering additional mental health services.

And finally, several local schools are utilizing the statewide Safe2Say Something program — a school safety reporting system that enables students, teachers and parents to anonymously submit tips regarding potentially dangerous school-related situations to a crisis center.

We’re glad that the Mars School District and other Butler County districts are taking the safety of students seriously. And we hope that these districts continue to explore ways of rising to meet the challenging safety needs of our modern era.