MILLCREEK TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WICU) - A school district in Pennsylvania armed its teachers with baseball bats in response to the recent school shootings nationwide.

In the wake of the Parkland School shooting, the Millcreek School District armed its 500 teachers with 16-inch baseball bats.

According to Superintendent Bill Hall, the bats were distributed to each teacher, following an in-service training day on how to respond to school shootings.

Hall says the bats are primarily "symbolic" but are now an option for teachers to use should they need to fight back in a shooting.

The bats will be locked up in each classroom and kept in the offices in the district's 10 school buildings.

Hall says it's just one of several initiatives to ensure student safety, which also includes a concrete barrier around the high school walkway, and additional security measures at each entrance.

"We passed them out, with the goal being we wanted every room to have one of these. Again, for consistency and for the symbolic piece that, unfortunately, we're in a day and age where we may need to use them to protect ourselves and our kids," said Hall.