Armed school security officers could be an alternative to armed teachers, the Virginia School Boards Association said in a statement released Monday.

The VSBA said it expects legislation to be submitted to the 2013 session of the Virginia General Assembly in response to the shooting of students and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The proposals will be in addition to recommendations from the Task Force on School and Campus Safety that Gov. Bob McDonnell established following the shootings.

The VSBA commended McDonnell for establishing the task force, and said it was particularly pleased that among the issues it will study is how the role of school security officers may be improved and expanded.

The VSBA said the General Assembly passed legislation in 2002 that limited the role of school security officers employed by school boards by prohibiting them from being appointed conservators of the peace or as special police officers, which had the effect of prohibiting them from carrying firearms on public school campuses.

The VSBA said it believes consideration should be given to repealing that legislation as an alternative to having school principals and teachers carry firearms in schools.

Gloucester High School has five full-time unarmed security officers, including an officer that checks in visitors, and one part-time officer. The security personnel are in addition to two armed full-time sheriff’s deputies that are assigned to the school.

GHS principal Tony Beverage said he has mixed feelings about arming school security officers. “It could be a positive, but it could have negative impacts,” he said. “They would have to have proper training, and be trained in proper procedures. I think some people would feel very comfortable with it and some would not.”

Beverage said his security officers were not hired with the expectation that they carry a firearm. “They serve as our eyes and ears. They are here to positively interact with the kids and to provide support to the administration and the police. They care about the kids and have positive relations with them, yet they also have expectations of them,” he said.

“I think we’re going to, over the next few months, hear all sorts of things thrown out there regarding ways to make schools safer,” Beverage said. “I hope the General Assembly will include educators, include teachers, administrators and security officers, in the decision-making process.”