>> Has more than 5 million
students headed back to school
in Texas this fall. The debate
over how to keep them safe is far from over the tragedies in
far from over the tragedies in
Santa Fe in Uvalde expose
lingering holes in campus.
Safety.
>> Tonight, KPRC, 2
investigator Robert Arnold
examines the struggles. School districts continue to phase
districts continue to phase
when it comes to identifying
potentially violent students and hold lawmakers accountable
and hold lawmakers accountable
in finding solutions.
>> lost faith in the whole
process.
>> The best like this. They
tear in the fabric of a community. We’re interested in
community. We’re interested in
getting to solutions that work.
After 8 students and 2 teachers
were murdered at Santa Fe High
School state legislators passed
more than a dozen school safety laws. Not
laws. Not
prevented. Uvalde.
>> I’m sad. I’m sad and I’m
frustrated because I do not
feel like our children are any
safer than they were.
After the Santa Fe shooting after the murders at Robb
after the murders at Robb
Elementary lawmakers again
scheduled hearings and listen
to parents who lost children.
I don’t want.
>> My daughter to just be remembered for what happened
remembered for what happened
to her. I want her to be
remembered
for change.
>> How do you address that?
We want to have a solution that
addresses not only mass
shootings.
But all the other types of violence. What are your
violence. What are your
priorities? I think now in
retrospect, people don’t know
what steps need to be taken to
make sure they have an
operational plan that actually
results in safety. One of the
most significant pieces of
legislation to emerge from the
horrors of Santa Fe with Senate
Bill 11, which require school
districts to conduct threat
assessments on potentially
violent students.
>> Those threat detection teams
are there to recognize the
obvious and that did occur.
Due Valley state law also requires members of these teams
requires members of these teams
to go through at least 1, 7,
our threat assessment training
course, according to data
obtained from the Texas
Education Agency, about 30% of the people on these teams have
the people on these teams have
not yet gone through this
training. We did have an uptick
in training this summer that
come after Uvalde.
>> Corrects in Celina blight is with the Texas School Safety
is with the Texas School Safety
Center. One of the things as
school districts are dealing
with is their team members have
changed this year. I think he is really figuring out how does
is really figuring out how does
that team operation allies to
support the campus? But it’s up
to each individual school
district to figure out how to
achieve this mandate. T E a data analyzed by KPRC. 2
data analyzed by KPRC. 2
investigates shows these teams
received more than 67,000
reports of potentially violent
students during the 2021 2022 school year.
school year.
>> In 17% of the cases teams
determined there was a threat
in in an additional 3% of
cases. It was determined there was an imminent threat in the
was an imminent threat in the
student was reported to law
enforcement. How difficult was
that for a minute straighter
Zinn educators to suddenly have
to assess whether or not some
buddies it’s going to be violent. The first thing that
violent. The first thing that
had to be done was we had to
train staff.
>> What does?
>> Certain types of behaviors
look like HD chambers is retiring after 12 years as the
retiring after 12 years as the
Alief ISD superintendent, he
felt for these teams to work
all employees needed some level
of threat detection training.
We didn’t have enough trained individuals in our district
individuals in our district
to train the people that need
to be trained. Chambers said
he had to find the money in
the district’s budget to make this training happen. We
this training happen. We
funding for mental health.
We need additional resources.
President of the Texas American
Federation of Teachers Zeph
Capo says not every district has the funds for training
has the funds for training
beyond the state required 7
hour course. An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound
of cure. And we have not
figured that out in the state of Texas. Yet the more we’ve
of Texas. Yet the more we’ve
looked under the hood, the more
we found wrong with the whole
engine. Let’s try putting more
resources into providing social
workers and the stride of
things that we didn’t want to do last time.
do last time.
>> Here’s your kids safe in
school today. Can another
shooter walk and live in Santa
Fe? Anybody and do the same thing they did that. What do
thing they did that. What do
you think the interest, I think
and have them all.
>> Exactly. What form school
safety and security will take
during the upcoming session is still being debated. Governor
still being debated. Governor
Greg Abbott also has not yet
named a chief of school
security in safety. That’s a
new position that he ordered be
created after you all day.
The governor did send us a statement, though, reading
statement, though, reading
mental health support on
campuses will be a priority.
The governor’s full statement