Mayor Jon Mitchell is in no hurry to have armed teachers stationed in New Bedford Public Schools.

Despite the rash of mass shootings in recent years, Mitchell says he believes New Bedford is already taking important steps to keep kids and staff members safe.

Speaking on his weekly radio program on WBSM, the mayor said those steps include the assigning of school resource officers to the high school and middle schools, and continuing "active shooter training" in city schools.

"We've done that in municipal facilities and in schools. I think we need to continue those trainings in schools, perhaps not as often as fire drills, but it has to be on a regular basis."

President Donald Trump is in favor of arming capable and qualified teachers to keep schools safe. Mayor Mitchell, however, is reluctant to go that route.

"You know, its not what teachers signed up for," Mitchell says. "Schools, when they work well, have a nurturing  environment, especially at the younger grades. The idea of having a teacher that's brandishing a sidearm would be unsettling to a lot of parents, I think."

Mitchell says until he has teachers tell him its something we absolutely need in our schools, he feels the steps the city is currently taking are more important and without the downsides of arming teachers in classrooms.

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