After Uvalde: No gun control, but lots of school fortification
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One year after the Uvalde mass shooting, Texas lawmakers are poised to pass measures that they say will make schools safer, even as they have not seriously entertained any gun control bills.
Driving the news: The measures would provide incentives to school employees to arm themselves on campus, require school safety inspections, and mandate mental health training for teachers.
- They already sent to Gov. Greg Abbott a bill that would require school districts to install silent panic buttons in every classroom.
The big picture: As they did after the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, GOP lawmakers who control the Capitol have opted to further fortify schools rather than restrict the purchase of guns and ammunition.
- In 2019, the Legislature created a $100 million grant program to pay for security upgrades.
What they're doing: The Texas House and Senate have passed versions of a sweeping school safety measure. Among other things, the measure would:
- Require regular safety inspections of school buildings — the Uvalde shooter entered Robb Elementary through an unlocked door.
- Offer grants to students who want to attend another school district if their current one is not complying with safety standards.
The cost: Overall, the House has budgeted as much as $1.6 billion and the Senate $1.3 billion for school security over the next two years, per the Texas Tribune.
- The House version of the main school security bill would give schools $100 per student who regularly attends class, plus an extra $15,000 per year for security upgrades. The Senate version would give schools $10 per student plus $15,000 per year.
- The chambers will have to settle the differences before sending a final version to the governor.
Of note: The Texas chambers have differed on whether to require armed security personnel at every campus and how much money schools should be given by the state for security measures.
Yes, but: Parents of children killed in Uvalde wanted more.
- Namely, they were seeking to raise the age to buy semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21. Such a measure has not won a floor debate in either chamber.
What they're saying: Flo Rice, a teacher who is a survivor of the Santa Fe school shooting, testified at a hearing earlier this session in favor of the school safety bill. Citing the heroism of school district police officers, she encouraged lawmakers "to support strong school safety accountability measures before it's too late."
- Other people supporting the bill included a sheriff's association official, a rural schools association official and the president of the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute.
The other side: "Having a police officer present doesn't prevent more shootings,” Nicole Ma, a policy associate at Woori Juntos, an Asian American social justice group, told lawmakers at a March legislative hearing.
- Those opposed also include members of the gun control group Moms Demand Action and progressive nonprofits like Texas Appleseed.
Flashback: Jittery from the attack, Texas schools amped up security at graduation ceremonies last year, in the days following the Uvalde shooting — and that sense of anxiety hasn't really faded.
- School districts have been spending millions of dollars on bulletproof glass and other safety measures.
- As this school year got underway in August, some Texas districts required kids to wear see-through backpacks — and Austin public schools put an end to the tradition of parents walking children into their classroom on the first day of school.
Between the lines: Mental health experts worry that schools will spend state money on security measures ahead of counseling.
- "Under the current funding legislation being considered, there's really not a way to fund mental health support because districts are going to have to get those safety standards before they can spend dollars on anything else," Brian Woods, superintendent of the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, told the Texas Tribune.
Meanwhile, Lawmakers are also considering a proposal, awaiting House approval, that would toughen the state's truancy laws — the Uvalde shooter had choppy attendance starting in middle school and didn't finish high school, according to the state House report on the tragedy.
- It would also give the Texas Education Agency authority to require school districts to establish active-shooter protocols.
The bottom line: Texas lawmakers want to show they can do something to address the crisis of gun violence.
