Survey: Texas promised armed guards at every school, most don’t have them

In 2022, a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 kids and two teachers. State lawmakers said they were committed to never letting it happen again. Last year, the Texas Legislature passed a law that in part required an armed officer at every public school in the state. On Thursday, June 13, a Hearst Newspapers analysis found that nine months after the law was passed, most of the schools in the state have not implemented the requirement.

The survey found that of 100 random school districts around Texas, 52 had adopted an exemption in the law to avoid the armed guard requirement known as the “Good Cause Exception,” which allows for a district to opt-out of the requirement if it lacked funding or personnel.

Some district leaders that didn’t adopt the requirement claim that lawmakers did not provide enough money to offset the costs of the added security measures.

One superintendent noted that the cost to hire an officer cost his district $80,000 while the state only gave the district $18,500 to cover the added security expense.

Meanwhile, some districts that complied with the law are now in debt because of the added requirement and others have had to raise money to hire security locally. Several district leaders said that they were already struggling financially because of stagnant funding and inflation.

State Sen. Robert Nichols, R, who helped pass the legislation, admits that lawmakers “set a standard that is not attainable.” However, he blamed the problem on the lack of police officers in the state. Still, he thinks the law is progress.

“I think this was a success because it spurred some districts to hire additional security, even if most weren’t in full compliance.”

When asked about those who used the Good Cause Exclusion, he said, “What would you do? Shut down those campuses and not educate the kids?”

Under the exemption, school districts must still adopt alternative plans, like rotating officers between campuses or showing intent to hire more officers. Another option is to train and arm school staff, which some school districts have done.

Of the districts surveyed, one-fifth armed new school staff in response to the law.

Despite the lack of compliance with armed guards, even if all districts did have armed officers, the data is inconclusive. School safety experts said that there is no comprehensive research on whether or not armed guards prevent or minimize school shootings.