Tyler,TX — Campus safety is top priority for East Texas schools.

Union Grove I.S.D in Gladewater has made an announcement Friday about a change to their emergency plan which involves firearms.

KETK visited Union Grove I.S.D to to discuss the change which will bring ease to many.

After several board meetings, Union Grove I.S.D board agreed to allow some employees to carry guns or have firearms nearby.

KETK spoke  to Union Grove I.S.D Superintendent today, he tells KETK he will do anything to keep his schools safe.

This is a question he asked at board meetings.

"If an armed intruder came into a school one of our schools, would you want somebody to stop that as quickly as possible?" says Brian Gray, Superintendent.

As much security schools have in East Texas, gates and patrol, the inevitable could happen.

A new safety policy is active.

Gray tells KETK, the policy states, selected school employees who have obtained a current license to carry a firearm with state law, are eligible to have access to a fire arm on campus.

In fact, the district will pay for the guns.

"It's just heartening to me that we have to have this conversation but unfortunately that's the world we are living in, after the events of Sandy Hook obviously safety and security is on the forefront of everybody's thinking,"  says Brian Gray, Superintendent.

A Union Grove parent says she agrees with staff having access to a gun. she shares her thoughts about sandy hook.

Gray tells KETK, it's Union Grove I.S.D responsibility to keep 761 students safe to get them home to their parents.

"Taking the steps that we have I think we are being proactive, it's showing our community with their support that we are serious about protecting our kids," says Brian Gray, Superintendent.