Friday’s school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, is raising fresh concerns about school safety on Long Island.

As News 12 Long Island reported this week, residents in many school districts agreed that more money should be spent on securing schools and voted in budgets for next year that include security improvements.

Denis Monette, a retired assistant commissioner in the Nassau County Police Department, says while metal detectors and security cameras are a good idea, district money would be best spent on hiring qualified armed guards and putting them in school buildings.

“The armed officer, in my own opinion, is the best. It would mitigate it as quickly as possible,” says Monette. “Even if the cop is a few blocks away, he's still minutes out when the 911 call is, so the first responder really, if the schools choose, would be the retired, highly trained, off-duty police officer or military guy, who is armed in the school to take on the shooter.”

But some worry about what increased security will mean for students.

“They're used to all these drills and things. When I was a kid, we never did those things. We never had to do those things. It shouldn't feel like they're in a prison,” said one viewer.

Plainview-Old Bethpage district plans to install reinforced vestibules in all school entrances, as well as surveillance cameras. Miller Place and Hauppauge already have armed security guards and Center Moriches will be getting them next school year.