ENFIELD, Conn. (AP) Enfield's board of education has voted to remove armed guards from inside the town's public schools.

The Hartford Courant reports the board voted 5-3 on Tuesday night to end a memorandum of understanding that would have kept the guards for another two years.

The move reverses a decision by the town council, which had voted 6-5 on April 20 to continue the program.

The town instituted the program two years ago in response to the December 2012 killings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The council estimated it would cost $782,800 to continue it during the 2015-16 school year.

The 21 guards currently working in Enfield schools will remain through the end of the school year and several private schools have voted to retain the program.