Lubbock ISD Announces Plan For Next School Year With Armed Officers

After Governor Abbott signed a law back in June to equip every school in Texas with armed guards, one Lubbock school has announced what they are going to do.

After a bill was created in response to the mass school shooting in Uvlade last year, leaving 21 people dead, we are finally seeing change. House Bill 3 will increase the safety measures in all public and charter schools in Texas.

House Bill 3 requires at least one armed security officer on each campus during school hours. The armed security can be a peace officer, marshal, school resource officer or even a district employee.

Some schools say this bill comes with many challenges. Lubbock ISD Superintendent Dr. Kathy Rollo told KCBD that they can never say with 100% certainty nothing will happen.

She also said House Bill 3 doesn’t change much in her district, they already have secure entrances, active shooter protocols, drills, and full-scale training exercises.

“Working with the city police and sheriff’s office, all of our first responders, just so we can ensure our people have some muscle memory and can respond in case of an emergency,” Dr. Rollo said.

Rollo also says the biggest challenge most schools are facing is the $15,000 allocated to each campus for these armed security officers.

“This is one-time funding, obviously this is not a one-time one-year expectation, and so that’s another challenge, is finding room in the budget to add that many additional police officers,” Dr. Rollo said to KCBD.

The pressure is on for school districts since the bill will become law on Sept. 1st 2023, less than one month into the new school year.