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Stamford Superintendent Drops Some Guards, Plans Panic Buttons For Teachers

STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - Stamford superintendent of schools Winifred Hamilton wants to do away with guards and add panic buttons.

She said every elementary school staffer can be a part of the security process and wants them to be able to alert authorities with one push of a button.

When guards arrived at the dozen elementary schools there, there were questions about whether they were armed and whether one guard would make a difference.

Stamford Superintendent Drops Some Guards, Plans Panic Buttons For Teachers

"I was exploring options because we put security guards at the doors and they mainly are signing folks in or making sure the person at the door is entering the main office with a visitor's pass," Hamilton told WCBS 880 reporter Paul Murnane.

Hamilton said she is not out to replace security personal and other systems in the upper schools and she responded to concerns about false alarms by saying that any security system would have that issue.

One parent said he frets about a rush to quick answers.

"I think everybody is just overreacting," he said. "Look for the right answer."

All of this comes, of course, in the wake of the Newtown massacre, when Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 26 people, including 20 little children.

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