The Tamaqua Area School Board met on Tuesday night and approved a new safety policy.

Policy 805.1 was approved and will be in effect for the 2020-21 school year.

“805 is a security policy that mirrors the Senate Bill 621 and it allows the arming of employees of the school district based off of Senate Bill 621,” said board member Nicholas Boyle on Tuesday.

The board has dealt with criticism and lawsuits over the past couple years while mulling options such as arming staff and incorporating other districtwide safety enhancements.

The policy allows for someone to oversee security and a school resource officer.

A group of parents filed a lawsuit against the district over Tamaqua’s Policy 705 in January 2019, which was the initial policy created by the district that involved arming staff.

The policy was suspended and eventually rescinded. In July 2019, Gov. Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 621, which seemed to officially bury 705.

“My administration worked to amend this bill to prevent it from allowing teachers to be armed,” Wolf said last July.

“Pennsylvania law now makes clear that teachers may not be armed. Moreover, this bill now standardizes training and clarifies my administration’s guidance against arming teachers - guidance that some school districts attempted to ignore.”

The district created a safety commission consisting of school board members, local first responders, district employees and parents of the district.

The group met on a handful of occasions since last September and discussed not only the possibility of arming staff, but other strategies and requirements to help keep the district safe.

Earlier in 2020, the commission made seven safety recommendations to the board.

One recommendation, which was presented earlier this year, was categorized under “Confronting An Active Shooter” and discussed having some type of armed personnel.

No further information about 805.1 was discussed on Tuesday.

Superintendent Ray Kinder said if Schuylkill County is in the “green phase” next month, the public will once again be invited to attend the school board meetings.

However, the meeting could be moved to the high school’s cafeteria to create more space for attendees.