I was a bit disappointed (a bit). As advertised I was hoping to hear from City, County, & State Leaders on school safety and hear them defend their non action on limiting the easy access to assault weapons but that wasn’t what happened. There were no city, county, or state officials in attendance. That was disappointing since they have been in hiding ever since the Uvalde shooting that killed 19 children and 2 teachers.
But, all was not lost. The staff of CCISD did a great job on presenting their Safety Network. I took notes and will highlight the highlights. Since the Santa Fe shooting the district has spent $35 Million on hardening our schools and providing services to students and parents. They have added a total of 45 law enforcement officers to the campuses, created secure vestibules, panic buttons, door hardware for each classroom to secure the doors from inside or out, bus cameras, open door alarms, and security cameras on all campuses.
They discussed their apps available to the students and public called CCISD Alerts which is available for download. Their emergency protocol is consistent across the district no matter what type of emergency is being reported, a shooting, an emergency around the school, or a loose dog roaming the campus. The protocols for lockdowns, sheltering in place, etc as all the same.
I truly believe CCISD is doing the best they can in securing the school facilities given the limitations by our elected officials at the state level, who were not in attendance to explain these limitations. Unfortunately there are holes in the security that should be addressed.
As an example the most security for the campus is a fence that an 18 year old with an assault weapon could shoot through at kids playing at recess, or practicing football, or at band practice. Unlike the school classrooms the campuses are wide open. To compound this situation according to Texas law anyone (including criminals) can walk around in the open with a loaded assault weapon, wearing body armor, with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, large capacity ammo clips, and silencers and there is nothing law enforcement can do about it.
We were told at first there are no limitations on how close a possible shooter could come to the school but later we were told that the limit was 1000 feet if they had a license to carry. On the surface this sound reasonable but….how can you tell if that person has a license? Law enforcement cannot ask for proof of a license. They can only take action if that person breaks the law by threatening someone or shooting. This needs to be clarified. It makes absolutely no sense and should be addressed.
As I have said, I believe CCISD is reacting responsibly to the threats to our schools because of the lack of action by our elected officials on the State level. They are doing the best they can given the situation. It is sad that they have to become security experts just so that our elected officials can protect the rights of an 18 year old to buy assault weapons, body armor, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, large capacity ammo clips, and silencers.
It’s like they want to protect guns and bullets instead of girls and boys.
Bay Area Houston 