Texas lawmakers once again say they want to boost funding to make schools safer.
State leaders promised to make them more secure after mass shootings at Santa Fe High School and then again after Robb Elementary.
They largely emphasized “hardening” schools. That meant mandating districts install panic buttons and place armed security officers at each campus.
Schools established systems to identify potential threats and ramped up mental health resources.
Districts receive an annual per-student safety allotment to fund equipment, training and other programs related to security.
But school administrators say they can’t afford to fulfill all state mandates.
Abbott asked lawmakers to invest an additional $500 million for school safety as they write the state’s budget for the next two years.
Still, some community leaders and gun violence experts say Texas’ approach to fortifying its campuses is insufficient. They urge lawmakers and school administrators to commit more dollars to youth violence prevention and mental health efforts.
And gun control advocates, including Uvalde parents, have repeatedly called on the Legislature to raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles.
Meanwhile, gunfire continues to erupt on school grounds. A recent incident at a Dallas campus, which had seen another shooting a year prior, raised questions about whether fortifying campuses is enough to keep students safe.
Here’s what to know about Texas’ school safety laws.
How did Texas make schools safer after a shooting at Santa Fe High School?
In 2018, 10 people were killed when a 17-year-old student opened fire in an art classroom in Santa Fe High School.
The following year, Abbott signed bills that mandated schools to bolster security measures and introduce mental health initiatives.
Districts were required to make emergency operations plans, provide emergency training for all employees and develop threat assessment teams at each campus to identify and intervene when students make threats of violence.
Lawmakers removed the cap on the number of teachers and staffers who could carry guns on campuses.
Schools also received state security funding — at $9.72 per student — to help cover the costs of implementing safety measures.
What happened after the Uvalde massacre?
A teenage gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in 2022. The 18-year-old entered the campus through an unlocked door.
Lawmakers introduced another raft of mandates geared at hardening campuses. Their chief response was requiring an armed security officer at every campus — a mandate a majority of districts say they are unable to fulfill.
They also provided a slight boost — $10 per student and $15,000 per campus — to public schools’ security allotment.
Campuses were required to install bulletproof windows and silent panic buttons in classrooms that could alert law enforcement to emergencies. Certain staffers must receive mental health training to help identify students who may need support and pose a threat to school safety.
Legislators created an Office of School Safety and Security, and Abbott ordered random inspections of school buildings to make sure doors are locked from the outside.
Inspectors checked over 8,000 campuses last year, finding 87% in full compliance, according to a Texas Education Agency report.
Why can’t Texas schools hire more armed officers?
A majority of Texas’ 1,200 school districts are unable to fully comply with the armed security requirement, according to a recent Senate Education Committee report.
Just over half of all districts claimed a “good cause” exemption and developed an alternative safety plan. Nearly two-thirds of large districts — those with 26 campuses or more — were unable to fulfill the mandate.
The first challenge is recruiting. A nationwide police shortage has Texas city officials struggling to hire additional officers.
So some schools pursue alternatives, including allowing teachers or other staffers to carry guns under Texas’ guardian plan or marshal program.
The second obstacle is money. District officials have “consistently expressed concerns” that the state’s security-dedicated funding is not enough to cover the costs of a commissioner peace officer, according to the report.
For example, Northside ISD officials told lawmakers last year that their school marshal program cost $2.4 million per year, but they netted $1.6 million from the school safety allotment, according to the report. Dallas school leaders say they spend roughly $260 per student on overall school safety, a figure far above the $10 the state provides.
“All of us want our schools to be as safe as possible,” Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said in January. But new security requirements “all have costs.”
A proposal to raise the per-student safety allotment to $14 is headed to the governor’s desk after the bill passed both chambers. The per-campus funding for safety would bump up to $37,000.
Meanwhile, a separate House measure that would increase the overall basic, per-student funding allotment by nearly $400 has yet to be taken up in the Senate.
What do Texas schools spend their safety allotment on?
The Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University looked at what security measures districts spent money on over a three-year period starting in 2020.
The center’s audit found that most spent funds on security cameras, improving infrastructure and installing physical barriers.
Only 29% of the 1,013 districts surveyed reported spending any safety allotment funds on district police, private security officers or school marshals.
Less than 10% of schools used those state dollars to cover suicide prevention programs, mental health personnel or behavioral health services.
The report indicated the percentage of districts that spent allotment funds in each category, not how much they spent on each category.
Advocates want lawmakers to provide more state funds for mental health support in schools, such as a mental health allotment.
Due to the state’s security mandate, districts have a “disproportionate use of funds on physical safety over the psychological safety” of students, said Rebecca Fowler, director of public policy and governmental affairs at Mental Health America of Greater Houston, at a recent Senate committee hearing.
How have families and education advocates responded to state actions?
Some families oppose the armed security mandate, saying they worry about the increased presence of weapons on campuses.
Others want to bolster the marshal program. For example, one bill would allow uniformed school marshals to openly carry their firearms on campus. That’s a change from current law that requires them to keep handguns concealed. Supporters say it would help marshals more quickly access their handgun in the case of an emergency.
But arming educators under the marshal program poses its own threats, such as the possibility of a student getting hold of the firearm, education advocates say. They point to reports of guns being left unsupervised at schools.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the Wilmer-Hutchins shooting, community advocates said they want to see more efforts to teach young people not to rely on violence as a solution.
“Metal detectors will never be enough. We got to alter the mindset,” said Bruce Carter, founder of a national group focused on preventing violence among young men called Team Black Males Winning, at a community panel.
Uvalde parents have repeatedly urged lawmakers to raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. Bills aiming to do so have languished in the Legislature.
Abbott has said such a law would be unconstitutional.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
