West Ada trustees on Thursday unanimously OK’d a plan to have armed security guards on campus.

“Campus sentinels” will be specially hired and trained, plain-clothed security guards who carry concealed handguns. The sentinels will join school resource officers as an armed security presence at the district’s schools. During emergencies, they’ll wear sashes to identify themselves as sentinels to law enforcement.

The district won’t disclose the number of sentinels or the amount budgeted to pay them, Chief Academic Officer Marcus Myers said Thursday. A pay scale in the policy’s third reading shows sentinels will get between $215 and $290 a day.

“To make sure it remains a deterrence, we’re strategically being ambiguous about the number of campus sentinels,” Myers said.

Only former, retired or current law enforcement officers can apply. Requirements for the job include a psychological evaluation and an Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training certification. The academy where many Idaho police agencies send trainees to earn this certification is across the street from West Ada’s Meridian district office. Part of earning the certificate includes six months of field training with a police agency.

Applicants must disclose their employment history, including any incidents relating to their conduct, Myers said.

Sentinels must also undergo “rigorous” annual training with the Meridian Police Department, according to the policy.

Sentinels are not school resource officers. Other school staff members would handle safety matters that aren’t life-threatening. For example, teachers or resource officers would respond to fights between students.

Trustees expressed their support for the policy, starting with Meghan Brown, who noted the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting happened the same day she completed her student-teaching in college.

“I’ve never stepped into a classroom and not thought about it,” said Brown about the possibility of a school shooting. “So I have appreciated every opportunity to make schools safer.”