The legislation came as lawmakers renewed focus on school safety in response to the May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, when 21 people were killed. However, it’s unclear how soon some districts will be able to implement the new security measures as officials navigate financial hurdles and a competitive marketplace ahead of the 2023-24 school year.
With 47 schools in the Leander ISD system, Superintendent Bruce Gearing said “there is no way” the district will be able to place an officer at every campus by the time school starts Aug. 16.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “So we’ll continue to work really closely with our [law enforcement] agencies and then also explore every other opportunity that we have to meet the mandates of the law.”
As part of the legislation, districts will receive $10 per student and $15,000 per campus to meet the requirements. However, Gearing said this will not be enough to fund all of the district’s new safety and security measures, and the board of trustees will likely have to approve amendments to the district’s operating budget throughout the year as it works to meet the new standards.
Gearing also said the law will have an impact on law enforcement agencies the district works with, including the Leander Police Department, the Cedar Park Police Department, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office and the Austin Police Department.
“Police departments are really struggling to find enough officers for their departments,” Gearing said. “So we essentially are becoming a competitor now.”
Liberty Hill ISD officials, however, said they are well prepared to implement officers at all nine of its campuses.
“We’re just a little ahead of the curve,” Superintendent Steven Snell said.
Putting safety first
Four years ago, LHISD began the process of starting its own police department with the hiring of a police chief followed by a couple more officers shortly after.
“After the incident with Uvalde, we looked and assessed our safety, ... and we decided that the best way to keep our students and teachers safe was to have a police officer at every campus,” Snell said. “Since that time a year ago, we have been in the process of hiring police officers for every campus.”
LHISD has a ratio of one officer per campus. In July, the district hired two more officers to maintain this ratio.
Similar to LISD, funding remains a problem. Snell said necessary equipment, officers’ salaries and their training is expensive, and while the state provides some funding geared toward safety, it doesn’t cover all of the associated costs.
“They make the laws, and they don’t fund the laws,” he said. “I would love for [it] to be funded, even if it’s partially funded.”
Snell said because of LHISD’s planning, the requirement isn’t “so much of an immediate burden.” The district is continuing to look at other cost-effective options, and administrators and the board have budgeted to keep safety a priority, he said.
In May, LHISD voters approved a bond that included safety and security focal points. With funding from the 2023 bond program, one of the projects the district will begin working on is designing and reconfiguring school entryways with a safe, secure vestibule to verify visitors.
The district also installed cellphone boosters in all of its campuses to up the coverage and service in those areas so in the event of an emergency, cellphones will have the service needed to make calls to 911.
Officials said the LHISD community has been supportive of the new law and the district’s initiatives.
“We’re very law enforcement friendly,” Snell said. “We have a lot of community members who work all over the area in different agencies, so they’re able to [help] as well.”
New legislation
With the passage of House Bill 3 in this year’s Texas legislative session, school districts throughout the state are now required to have one armed security guard on each campus.
The security guards could include:
- school district peace officers
- school resource officers
- commissioned peace officers employed as security personnel
- school marshals
- school district employees who complete safety training with a qualified handgun instructor
HB 3 provides school districts additional state funding to go toward safety and security initiatives. Some school district officials have expressed concern that the extra money will not cover all of the costs associated with the new law.
Under the bill, each school district will receive:
- $10 for each student in average daily attendance
- $15,000 per campus
