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What are the new Texas school laws? Guidelines come into effect from September 1

The state agency will now be required to jointly assess campuses’ security at least once every four years

UVALDE, TEXAS: After the school shootings in Uvalde last year, the safety of the students and the teaching professionals became one of the most important issues across educational institutions in Texas. Just a month after the deadly incident, Governor Greg Abbott and state leaders channeled $100 million for school safety initiatives which even include silent panic alert technology, mandated by TEA(Texas Educational Agency), to quickly notify the authorities whenever there’s an intruder or a criminal in a school.

Besides, Abbott also appointed the chief of school safety and security, a new TEA position, to serve schools and the Legislature as a security expert. To keep track of how effectively schools are at detecting and stopping intruders, the governor also ordered audits. 

What are the new Texas school laws? 

According to KHOU, state lawmakers have passed a new law - House Bill 3, that will come into effect from September 1. The law states that schools must have armed officers or armed staff members and train staff to identify students who may need mental health support. Lawmakers gave districts some flexibility in meeting those requirements for armed guards and staff mental health training. 

It will be mandatory for all the classrooms to have a silent panic button. The TEA is also set to gain more control and power to ensure campuses are abiding by safety requirements like intruder detection audits or risk state supervision. The state agency will now be required to jointly assess campuses’ security at least once every four years.

Districts will also notify parents of “violent activity” on campus that takes place or is investigated using standards the TEA must now create. Maps of each school will also need to be provided to the Texas Department of Public Safety and local emergency responders and let them walk through buildings.

The new law gives the commissioner of education the power to appoint a conservator to oversee the district’s school board and superintendent and correct the issues if a district fails to submit school safety information or address any concerns. In addition, the legislation raises the amount districts receive each year for school safety expenses to $10 per student, a rise of $0.28, and provides them with an additional $15,000 per campus.

The Uvalde school shooting

An armed teenager entered Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School over a year ago and killed 19 children and two teachers, in what became to be known as the state's deadliest school shooting. Seventeen people were also injured. According to investigations by state officials and journalists, authorities didn’t breach the classrooms, the killer, Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school,  had taken over for more than an hour amid lapses in communication and leadership. 

A state committee report also found “systemic failures” and missed warning signs that the gunman may have been planning a violent attack. State leaders called for boosting schools’ physical security measures in response to protect them against intruders and addressing student mental health.