The costs of keeping Texas students and teachers safe in schools are rising.
After the Uvalde massacre, the school district must hire armed security guards on all campuses. They want to build fences, install cameras and buy metal detectors.
Administrators lament that the state has not allocated enough funds to pay for expensive renovations, even though safety is a top priority.
Now, the House could move forward with a plan to secure funding to protect children in its fourth special session after committees voted on two school safety measures.
“What we're trying to do with this bill is continue to ensure that, going forward, we don't collectively discuss the cost of child safety,” Republican Canadian Rep. Ken King said in a speech. Stated. Friday's hearing. “We're going to pay for this in the future.”
Dr. King proposed a constitutional amendment to create a state school safety fund that would provide continued financial support for security projects. A separate bill would establish two grant programs funded by proceeds from the new fund. The grants would be capped at a total of $1.1 billion annually across the state, according to the fiscal report.
The proposal will be considered by the entire House. If passed, it is unclear what kind of momentum it would have in the Senate. Another priority bill in the Senate deals with school safety to a different extent.
During the regular legislative session, Governor Greg Abbott signed the School Safety Priority Plan. The incident comes after 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Texas' deadliest school shooting.
The new law called for a variety of changes, most notably requiring armed personnel on all campuses. However, hiring school police is a personnel challenge and is expensive. Still, Congress did little to increase funding allocated to districts for public safety.
Schools will receive $10 per student in safety fees, an increase of 28 cents over the amount the district received the previous year. In addition, each campus was given her $15,000 allocation.
Administrators want more, arguing they need additional funding to cover the cost of both campus hardening and treating the root causes of violence, such as mental health issues.
For example, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde previously said the district needs at least $200 per student in safety costs.
“When the next tragedy happens, we don't want to sit back on the docket and say we didn't do everything in our power to give school districts and campuses the ability to protect our children,” King said. Ta.
The committee also voted 10-4 along party lines to advance legislation to create education savings accounts that would allow families to use public funds to pay for private school tuition.
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