AUSTIN, Texas – Six Texas schools are participating in the first year of a new secret school marshal program approved by lawmakers to protect students from potential school shootings.

Texas state lawmakers approved a school marshal law shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Newtown, Connecticut to allow public schools to send an employee who already possesses a concealed license permit to a state school marshal academy, KXAN.com reports.

At the academy they become licensed marshals and their identity is kept confidential. The law requires them to keep their weapon locked up during class time, according to the news site.

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Last summer, six districts sent school employees to the first 80-hour academy, including the Wylie Independent School District, where a teacher volunteered to go, superintendent Joey Light said.

Light said he is one of four people who know the employee’s identity, the others being the employee, the police chief and a public safety official.

“Everyone in the school business at the same time was looking for options to secure their students and staff,” he said. “We’re in the situation where we’re trying to prepare for the unlikely event and our hope is it never happens.”

He said the district’s secret marshal has yet to bring his weapon with him to school, and the school board has concerns about the program because the marshal would not always have access to his gun, according to the news site.

The statewide teachers union, of course, hates the idea of teachers carrying weapons to protect students.

“We believe the role of teachers is to teach. The role of law enforcement is to protect,” Texas American Federation of Teachers President Linda Bridges told KXAN.

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Eleven school employees are currently enrolled in this year’s academy, with 20 open slots still available, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

KXAN attempted to get a list of schools that have participated in the secret school marshal program, but the TCLE denied the station’s public information request, and asked the state Attorney General to rule on the decision. The AG told TCLE to release the information, but TCLE sued the AG to keep it under wraps.

Meanwhile, lawmakers expect to revisit the program during the next legislative session to discuss the stipulation that marshals’ weapons must remain locked with school is in session, state Rep. Jason Villaba, the original sponsor of the school marshal law, told the news site.

“We know there will be tweaks, we know that certain school districts will say this is really working for us and some districts will say we need to change some things,” Villaba said.

“Due to the restrictive nature of the school marshal plan, it does need some tweeking,” Light told KXAN.

Villaba said one option that likely will be considered is to allow individual school districts to decide whether or not to allow a secret school marshal to carry their weapon on them.

Interestingly, school marshals are one of two options for Texas schools that wish to arm school employees – school guardians are the other. While both must be school employees and possess an active concealed handgun license, marshals must undergo 80 hours of state-mandated training, and pass background and psychological tests.

School districts determine what training is necessary for guardians, who are not required to pass background or psychological tests. Guardians can also carry their weapons on the at all times with permission from school officials, KXAN reports.