Long Beach Unified School District this week eliminated four campus security positions and reduced one to part-time because of budget cuts, causing concern among some students and teachers about school safety.

In March, a security position was cut and another reduced to a part-time role. Ten other campus security positions have been cut since 2014.

The district still has 65 campus security officers at high schools district-wide, said spokesman Chris Eftychiou. And even though budget cuts required getting rid of some campus security officers – unarmed and dressed in polo shirts – none of the armed, uniformed officers have been cut, said district safety Chief Tom Hickman.

“In an active shooter, they wouldn’t be involved in that,” Hickman said. “So it wouldn’t affect that situation.”

But the cuts have come as the district officials and the country as a whole grapple with how to keep campuses safe from the scourge of gun violence – an ongoing debate sparked by February’s Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 dead.

About a week after that shooting, Long Beach was shaken by six school threats in 10 days. In March, the school board called for efforts to end gun violence and students across the district walked out to advocate for tougher gun laws.

On Friday, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, students at Millikan High and across the United States walked out a second time.

“It was bad timing,” said Barry Welsch, the president of the Teachers Association of Long Beach. “Some teachers have expressed concern.”

Long Beach Unified has three types of safety officials, Hickman said: campus security officers, the ones whose positions were reduced; school resource officers, who are employed by Long Beach Police Department; and armed school safety officers who work for Hickman.

Campus security officers help supervise students as they enter the school, go between classes and eat lunch.

The district has a quota of one officer per 435 students, Eftychiou said.

“Our large high schools continue to have multiple CSOs,” Eftychious said. “For instance, Millikan is losing one position but still has seven others.”

But the money for those officers, as well as district funding from the state in general, is tied to enrollment. Since 2002, the district has seen its student population decline by 24,000, Eftychiou said. That has required wide staff reductions across departments, including secretaries and teachers.

“We’re scared,” said Blake Bayliss, 16, a junior at Millikan. “Firing security who protect us isn’t OK, they shouldn’t be firing anyone or anything that keeps us safe to make up for budget cuts.”

The high schools also have their own funding sources, Eftychiou said, which they can use to retain security officers if they choose.

“I would hope some of the school sites take a look at that,” Welsch said. “You can reduce CSOs, but it’s difficult to reduce a school’s footprint.”

Hickman, meanwhile, has a budget for 16 armed officers and five armed sergeants, plus the police department’s resource officers. Four of those positions are unfilled.

“It can be difficult to find people,” Hickman said.

On Wednesday, during the same meeting where the four security positions were eliminated, the Board of Education also approved spending $11 million to ensure that each school has fencing around it and in between buildings; the district will also have cameras at every entry point by 2020, Eftychiou said.

“I like our model for security,” Hickman added.

Editor’s note: The original version of this story stated that the Long Beach Unified School District’s safety officers are armed and sworn. The officers are armed, but are not sworn police. The story has been updated with the correct information.

Staff writer Valerie Osier contributed to this report.