It’s been nearly a year since Texas House Bill 3 (HB 3) — which mandates that every K-12 school in the state have a school-employed armed officer or contracted police officer on campus — went into effect. However, many districts are still trying to recruit officers into those jobs or implement alternative security plans.
HB 3 was passed by the Texas Legislature in May 2023 in response to the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in which an active shooter fatally shot 19 students and two teachers. Seventeen others were injured during the attack.
The law, which went into effect on September 1, 2023, however, has been criticized by a wide array of school security experts as being unworkable.
$15,000 Per School Doesn’t Cover Armed Officer Costs
Many experts say the law is an unfunded mandate in that it only provides $15,000 per campus to help schools pay for armed officers. For example, Northside Independent School District (NISD) spent $1.6 million when it added 20 more police officers and rehired 13 retired officers over the past year, according to the San Antonio Report. Despite the expenditures, NISD still has 40 vacant positions and gaps in coverage.
Another reason for the districts’ inability to comply is the ongoing nationwide law enforcement officer shortage.
There have been other grants and funding that have been made available to schools, including a $10 per student allotment for security upgrades and $1.1 billion in grants from the state of Texas. Despite the additional support, those financial sources generally aren’t enough to cover the costs of HB 3’s required campus security and safety changes. Funding for the programs is also being squeezed due to declining student enrollment and no increases to base state funding since 2019.
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Despite many schools finding it difficult to comply with HB 3, some districts say they are having success with implementing its mandates. One of those districts is Katy ISD. Superintendent Ken Gregorski told Community Impact his district has met and exceeds HB 3’s requirements.
“Katy ISD includes safety and security items in its annual budget to account for additional personnel, training and the resources needed to ensure the district and its police department are well-equipped to effectively mitigate, surveil and respond to potential safety threats,” he told the publication.