Enfield (AP) — Enfield officials have approved putting armed guards in all town schools starting in the fall in response to the Newtown school shootings.

The Board of Education approved the measure and other security improvements in a 5-4 vote Tuesday night.

The plan drew mixed reaction from residents, including some who worried the guards might scare children and others who said the extra security isn't needed.

Police Chief Carl Sferrazza supported the proposal, saying the town should do everything it can to protect children. He says the town will hire 11 trained armed guards. The middle and high schools already have armed school resource officers.

Sferrazza noted Newtown is only 50 miles away and shootings can happen anywhere.

Twenty first-graders and six educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December.