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One of the federal funding bills just passed by Congress includes money for school safety projects for both the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and the North East Independent School District in San Antonio.
Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales represents both school districts and secured the funding as two of his allotted community projects.
Standing outside a recently closed NEISD elementary school on Friday, Rep. Gonzales said the San Antonio district’s plan to use the $4.2 million to create a space to practice responding to crises is the gold standard for America.
“Communication is important, training is important, the simulators. That is gold,” Gonzales said. “Every school (district) in America should have this. And the fact that we are getting this in San Antonio is a game changer.”
Uvalde CISD also received $4.2 million for security enhancements in the appropriations bill.
“When you talk about Uvalde, what comes to mind? Minutes matter, seconds matter, training matters, and we can't we can't think it's not going to happen to us. We have to prepare and be ready for it,” Gonzales said.
Uvalde’s Robb Elementary experienced one of the worst school shootings in recent history in May 2022. Multiple investigations found that law enforcement waited more than an hour to confront the gunman that killed 19 children and two teachers.
NEISD plans to use the federal funding to convert Wilshire Elementary into a training facility for police and other staff.
NEISD Interim Superintendent Anthony Jarrett said the former school will be used to practice responding to multiple different scenarios.
“I think sometimes with safety, people will equate that to one act or one event, whether it's a fire, whether it's an intruder or one thing. But what we know is that crisis can come in a variety of ways,” Jarrett said.
Wilshire is one of the three schools NEISD closed last year to reduce costs amid declining enrollment.
“I would be remiss if I don't take the time to recognize our school board members who are standing behind me here, who stood by us as we went through a very difficult decision of consolidating schools,” Jarrett said, gesturing to the four trustees who attended the press conference. “That was probably one of the most challenging events in our school district, and as we did that, one of the things our board wanted to do is make sure that our buildings are used for the betterment of our district as a whole.”
Jarrett, Gonzales, and Trustee Tracie Shelton all agreed that, when it comes to schools, student safety is paramount.
“This Safety Center affords us the opportunity to make sure that we train our staff at the highest level, make sure they're prepared for a crisis in case it ever occurs, but more importantly, to give the comfort to our families that children, when they come to school, they will be safe, they will be valued, and they will be respected,” Jarrett said.
Jarrett said they don’t have a set timeline for when the safety center will become operational, and that for now the center will be used primarily by NEISD.
“We're looking at partnerships and different things like that, but right now we're really focused on NEISD,” Jarrett said. “We partner with our Sheriff's Department, who will also be part of our facility, and so we're continuing conversations about how we expand the reach of safety in the San Antonio area.”
In addition to NEISD’s police department, Jarrett said teachers, counselors, and campus safety officers will also receive training at the center.
In a press release, Gonzales said he used his seat on the House Appropriations Committee to secure a total of $42 million for his congressional district, including the funding for Uvalde CISD and NEISD.
Other projects in the San Antonio area include $7.5 million for a Veterans Center at the University of Texas at San Antonio, $2.6 million for an anti-gang intelligence unit at the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, and $1.25 million for wastewater infrastructure in Bexar County.
