New bills advancing in Texas Legislature require schools comply with security requirements
AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – One year after the deadly massacre in Uvalde, new bills are advancing in the Texas Legislature that will require school districts to comply with the state's safety and security requirements.
At a Senate Education Committee hearing May 11, Senator Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio said, "This is a big bill, probably one of the most important things we do."
Members discussed the latest version of legislation that seeks to address major shortcomings discovered after the tragedy.
The gunman at Robb Elementary School entered the buildings through unlocked doors.
During a State Senate hearing last summer, it became clear there wasn't a way to enforce compliance of existing safety rules.
The Director of the School Safety Center, Dr. Kathy Martinez Prather, told lawmakers they couldn't do on-site safety inspections at school campuses. "Not clear on our authority to be able to go and do compliance follow-up checks."
Now, lawmakers are set to give the Texas Education Agency the authority to conduct on-site safety and security audits.
That includes checking to see if doors and windows are locked and whether a stranger can get into a school.
Governor Greg Abbott ordered these inspections after Uvalde.
Under new legislation, the Texas School Safety Center would also have to review each school campus once every five years and make recommendations on potential changes to meet safety standards.
School districts will have to comply with all of these requirements. If they don't, they'll have time to make corrections under a deadline.
Senator Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound asked the author of the Senate's bill, Senator Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, if the legislation requires school districts to comply.
Parker said, "I guess my question is do you feel like you've got adequate teeth so to speak in the bill with regard to enforcement?"
Nichols responded, "I believe we have. If they don't correct it, then the state will step in, not to take over the whole school system, but the state will step in just on the school safety compliance portion. We want you to be in compliance. We're going to give you every chance, give you every bit of help. If you're not, the state is going to step in. We're going to get you into compliance."
Senator Royce West, D-Dallas said, "The public needs to know, a parent needs to know their school district, their administrators and their board of trustees aren't taking it seriously."
West proposed his own legislation that would have required accountability.
His bill would have established a system to rate each school district as either "meets standards" or "does not meet standards."
But it did not pass out of the House Public Education Committee this week.
Lawmakers say they believe these safety requirements will work – but there are incentives just to make sure.
If there's a school district that's not compliant, students there would be able to attend classes in a different district.
If a superintendent is fired because the district isn't in compliance, the board of trustees won't be able to pay that superintendent any severance.
A committee of lawmakers from the House and Senate are now negotiating the final language of the legislation.
Two key differences between the House and Senate plans include security funding for school districts and whether each school campus must have an armed guard whether a school resource officer, police officer, or a marshal.
The House has the provision in its version and the Senate does not.
The regular legislative session ends Memorial Day.
