Texas school safety bill to hinder districts instead of help them

SAN ANTONIO – Lawmakers passed on Sunday, what they are calling one of the biggest school safety packages in the state's history. But experts and local superintendents say the bill is more of a hindrance than a benefit.

The legislature's school safety package, House Bill Three, is on its way to the governor's desk.

“It’s something that is probably not acceptable to many school districts because it cost too much money,” Jon Taylor, the political science chair at the University of Texas–San Antonio, said.

HB 3 is the state's response to the Uvalde massacre.

A key part of the bill requires every school in Texas to have an armed officer or personnel on campus but does not give districts enough money to pay for it.

“It becomes an unfunded mandate,” Taylor said. “Like, now, we're going to require you to do this, but we're not going to give you the money for it."

“Without the appropriate funding support, it is going to be very challenging,” Dr. John Craft, Northside ISD’s superintendent, said.

Craft says the bill gives each district about $15,000 per school and $10 per student, which for NISD equates to about $2.8 million. That only funds 30% of what they would need to fully implement the new legislation.

“We're definitely going to have to cut into the general fund to ensure that like say, we're meeting all the requirements that have been prescribed with House Bill three,” Craft said.

“I think it is a band-aid,” Edgewood ISD superintendent Dr. Eduardo Hernandez said. “I think what it is, is that it's just it's showing that we've done something whether that's something is going to be enough or not.”

Smaller school districts like Edgewood will have to put their finances under a microscope to comply.

“It is going to make us really question every single purchase that we have everything from supplies to support around the classroom,” Hernandez said.

According to the bill, the armed person does not have to be a law enforcement officer - it can be a school marshal or a school district employee.

“It's a hindrance because I have yet to meet a teacher who says, ‘I want to be the teacher who has the gun,” Hernandez said.

North East ISD superintendent Dr. Sean Maika said other parts of the bill like sharing threat assessment data and mandatory mental health training are extremely helpful.

“There are pieces in that house bill that I believe are definitely beneficial for the system, and will help maintain safety,” Maika said.

But the feeling overall is anything but positive from local superintendents.

"It's between putting lipstick on a pig and doing something,” Taylor said. "This is basically not quite window dressing, but a little bit more than that, but not much more."