HARROLD, Texas (AP) - Along with normal first-day jitters and excitement, students in the tiny North Texas district of Harrold started school today wondering which teachers were carrying guns.

Seventeen-year-old Adam Lira, a senior, says it was kind of awkward knowing some teachers were carrying guns but adds he didn't feel threatened by it.

While some parents say they feel their children were safer, others oppose the plan.

Several parents say they had no idea that school employees were allowed to carry concealed guns on campus until recent publicity
about the school board's policy, approved quietly last fall.

They say they were upset that the rural community near the Oklahoma border had not been able to give input.

Harrold Superintendent David Thweatt says the board approved the policy in an October open meeting that had been publicized. He says
the decision was made after nearly two years of researching the best school security options.

There are 110 students in the red-brick Harrold school.