Texas schools struggling with armed guard mandate

SAN ANTONIO – A year after a state law requiring armed police officers on every school campus in Texas sent school districts into a recruiting frenzy, school leaders are still grappling with how to scale up existing security forces to comply with the law, which was passed in the wake of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, according to the San Antonio Report. Anticipating some of the difficulties districts would have, including inadequate funding and a shortage of qualified peace officers, lawmakers created an exemption, in which some of the largest school districts in San Antonio are now using to implement alternative security plans. Those alternatives are left up to districts, with possible alternatives laid out in the law, including contracting with or hiring armed security guards, or arming district employees.

North East Independent School District, for example, created a safety specialist position in addition to their already existing police department, recruiting 46 former military personnel and other qualified candidates for those roles. Heading into the next school year, the district has filled 40 of those campus-based positions created since House Bill 3’s passage in 2023, according to district spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor, with others in the interview process. The district will hire two additional positions to fill in and assist with other security needs, like auditing secondary school campuses, Chancellor said. However, the armed officials have a limited scope, according to a letter shared with parents by Superintendent Sean Maika, who said that law enforcement duties would remain with certified NEPD officers. “Our Safety Specialists will focus solely on safety and security on campus,” he said. “In fact, the only time the specialists are authorized to use their weapon is if there is a direct threat to life.” The specialists will undergo extensive training, including active shooter training and firearms requalification, Stop the Bleed training and crisis and trauma training to better understand and intervene when a safety situation arises, Maika said.