SAN ANTONIO – US Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio on Monday met with officers from quite a lot of school districts and local law enforcement companies to speak about school safety.
House Bill 3, which is about to move into law Sept. 1, would require all school districts to have a minimum of one armed officer on each school campus.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar and others addressed the problems of the unfunded mandate.
“It’s great to be able to pass legislation to say, ‘You got to have a cop on the campus, but we’re not going to give you the money to do it.’ So at that point it becomes more problematic,” Salazar mentioned.
Some school district officers mentioned they aren’t provided to meet HB 3′s necessities.
South San ISD Superintendent Henry Yzaguirre mentioned whilst the district desires to abide by way of the brand new law, they’re going to have to record for an exemption.
“I want to assure our community that we are safe. We are providing the services that we need in covering our schools. However, it will be difficult come September 1st to have an officer at every school,” Yzaguirre mentioned.
Because the precise folks for the placement aren’t making use of for the placement, Yzaguirre mentioned the district doesn’t have the manpower. One armed officer can have to patrol a couple of campus, for now.
“Many of our schools are within a good proximity for us to respond, should we need to. We will be exercising that to the best of our ability,” Yzaguirre mentioned.
He added that the district does rent safety officials, and whilst they is also unarmed, they do supply 24-hour patrol in their amenities.
And whilst the will for extra body of workers was once the average denominator between districts, Southwest ISD mentioned the will for stepped forward infrastructure.
“There has to be more funding for the bricks and mortar of what the school district needs, and right now as superintendents, we’re expected to carry that burden by going to our taxpayers and asking them to pass a bond. But there has to be some other type of relief to be able to help with those items,” Southwest ISD Superintendent Jeanette Ball mentioned.
Ball, up to now a superintendent in Uvalde, mentioned she understands why bettering the integrity of older school structures is a very powerful to general safety.
“When I was the superintendent there, I knew that our buildings were much older, but the funding lacked for that. They didn’t have the secure vestibules. They didn’t have the one entrance for the campus. They didn’t have the fencing. So, the need is there, and I know that that’s one of many school districts that are in that situation,” she mentioned.
Ball mentioned Southwest ISD is operating an excessively tight send when it comes to safety.
“Even for myself, when I go into a building, I have to sign in, I have to show my ID. All our perimeter doors are locked, there’s one entrance. You go into that entrance into a secure vestibule so people can’t get into the entire building until you’ve been checked in. So, we really hardened all our campuses, she said.
Ball said the takeaway of Monday’s discussion was to take a look at the grants and see which ones are available and who they can partner with to try and get additional funding for school safety.
“I don’t want us just to focus on the reactive, but looking and seeing the mental health issue, having more counselors, social workers, smaller class sizes. All those things would be important. So, the adult can focus on the child’s needs,” she mentioned.
The significance of accelerating school useful resource officer presence, imposing stepped forward get admission to keep watch over measures, bettering emergency reaction plans, and making an investment in psychological well being assets for college students have been all key issues highlighted within the dialogue.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus mentioned his officials are in a position to lend a hand.
“Our main responsibility here is response, and we are again capable of doing that and we’re ready just in case the call does come in,” he mentioned.
Copyright 2023 by way of – All rights reserved.
]