As gun violence in schools becomes increasingly common, Texas legislators have passed laws and sent dollars to districts to “harden” schools inside and out.
The most recent effort is House Bill 3 — a main component of which requires armed security on every public school campus. But many districts cannot put armed security in every single school, either because of a lack of funds or personnel.
The Austin-based nonprofit Equity Center, with decades of experience advocating for public schools and funding, helped districts determine how much money they’d need to fund HB3.
Deputy executive director Josh Sanderson said the "ultimate statewide cost" is about $1 billion.
“And [lawmakers] funded it at about $150 million,” he said. “So we're still pretty far short.”
KERA found numerous North Texas school districts unable to put armed security in every school. Many lack the money. Even though HB3 provides $15,000 per school per year and another 10 cents per student, district after district, from Allen to Cedar Hill, Dallas to Fort Worth ISD said that’s not nearly enough.
University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said sometimes, bills are simply “window dressing.”
“Lawmakers want to make it look like they're attacking this issue,” he said. “But there simply isn't always enough money to go around."
And underfunding isn’t the only issue.
HB3 created an immediate, giant, statewide supply-and-demand logjam. With every school needing armed security, there just aren’t enough people to fill jobs in the state’s 9,000 public campuses. Meanwhile, further clogging the pipeline, city police departments are simultaneously trying to grow their forces. Schools and police, looking in the same pool, are coming up dry.
For those districts that can’t find – or pay – for armed security, HB 3 provides a temporary waiver, referred to as a “Good Cause Exception.”
How many have asked for one and how long districts have to fulfill the law is unclear.
“Districts that adopt a Good Cause Exception by September 1, 2023 (when the law took effect), are considered in full compliance with the law,” the Texas Education Agency told KERA in an emailed statement.
As for whether the TEA is actively tracking which districts requested an exception, the short answer is no.
“Per HB 3, school systems are not required to report or file their Good Cause Exception with TEA,” the agency told KERA. “However, school systems MUST provide TEA with a copy of their good cause exception if asked by the agency. This would occur during a school’s Vulnerability Assessment, which is done at random on a four-year cycle."
The TEA said that for districts having trouble complying with HB3, the TEA would help.
Still, Equity Center’s Josh Sanderson expects Good Cause Exception numbers will eventually surface from the TEA.
“There are going to be legislative requests asking, okay, who's in compliance, who's not, and why are they not?” he said.
