Texas House Requires Panic Buttons in Every Classroom and Armed Guards in Every School

Under HB 3, armed security officers would be hired to be present at every campus during school hours. The Texas School Safety Center — a Texas State University think tank that has been reviewing schools’ safety protocols since the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting — would be required to conduct checks of a school district’s buildings at least once every five years to make sure they are following the state’s safety standards. The Texas Education Agency could withhold any grant money from a district until the agency finds that it is in compliance.

In the Uvalde shooting, the gunman entered Robb Elementary through a back door that failed to properly lock.

During the floor debate on Monday, Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, D-Richardson, brought an amendment that would bar teachers from being armed on campus. Under the current language of the bill, a school district could arm a teacher to meet the requirements of having an armed officer at every campus. The amendment failed.

Robin Breed, the Austin legislative lead for Moms Demand Action, a group that advocates for public safety policies to protect people from gun violence, said she was disappointed that the amendment wasn’t approved.

“Law enforcement officers like those that were at Uvalde have enormous training requirements,” she said. “We know that even with those training requirements, those officers at Uvalde were unable or unwilling to stop that shooter. So, asking a teacher to be able to perform better than the officers is ridiculous.”

The House also approved House Bill 13, authored by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian. It passed with a 125-21 vote and now heads to the Senate. The bill would give district employees a $25,000 incentive for each year they’re certified as so-called school guardians, or staff who can carry a gun in school.

School employees have been reluctant to get armed. About a month after the Uvalde shooting, a survey showed that Texas teachers do not want to take a gun to school.

HB 13 would also require law enforcement to do regular walk-throughs of school buildings and require district employees who regularly interact with kids to attend a mental health and first-aid training program. It would set up grants of up to $250 million for schools to upgrade their security and allocate $100 for each student who regularly attends classes.

In addition, the House passed Senate Bill 838, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, with a 145-0 vote. The proposal, which now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, would require districts to use part of their school safety budget to place silent panic alert buttons in each classroom. The buttons would immediately alert law enforcement agencies during emergencies. The proposal appears to be in response to the police radio failures inside Robb Elementary during the Uvalde shooting. Creighton’s bill was the companion to House Bill 669, authored by Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, an identical piece of legislation that was part of the House’s school safety package.

Brian Lopez is the public education reporter at the Texas Tribune. Erin Douglas contributed to this story. This storyis published courtesy of the Texas Tribune, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.