AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers agreed to a school safety bill in the final hours of the 88th Legislative Session.
House Bill 3, by state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, was approved by both chambers Sunday. The bill would require at least one armed officer on every public school campus, which could be a district peace officer, school resource officer or commissioned peace officer.
It was passed just over a year after the Uvalde massacre, where an 18-year-old armed gunman killed 21 teachers and students at Robb Elementary School. The event marks the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.
“This bill is the best product I think we’ve had thus far (regarding school safety),” Burrows said.
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, said she had “grave concerns” with the bill and the cost burden it will place on school districts.
“(HB 3 is) an act which has good intentions, ensuring the safety of our students, but instead to put them at greater risk threatens to create undue financial stress on our public schools, and possible liability for our school districts,” Goodwin said. “The potential for disastrous consequences is staggering.”
Districts can ask for an exemption from the law enforcement requirement if they are able to demonstrate “good cause” such as inadequate funding or qualifying personnel, per the bill. Should a district claim good cause, the school board is still required to develop an alternative standard to comply, including designating a school marshall or a school district employee or someone the district contracts with that has completed the school safety training and is able to carry a handgun on school premises.
The bill also requires each district employee who regularly interacts with students to have mental health training and adds school safety allotment funding. Of the $1.4 billion the Legislature has allotted for school safety, $330 million will go toward increasing the safety allotment, while the remaining will be for grants to help school districts improve their facilities to higher safety standards, Burrows said.
In addition, it requires districts to have an updated preparedness plan that is audited at least once every three years.
During the Uvalde tragedy, 77 minutes passed before law enforcement was able to neutralize the gunman. The incident highlighted flaws in law enforcement response and communications.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat who represents Uvalde, said he voted against the bill because the state is mandating armed law enforcement be at every school without offering adequate funding. This session, he filed a bill that would place a peace officer in every school but be paid for in full by the state. That bill died.
“This only further burdens our school,” he said. “Our children and teachers deserve far better than this.“
The bill goes into effect on Sept. 1.