Texas Governor Greg Abbott Announces The 'Damon Allen Act'

Gov. Abbott Unveils School & Firearm Safety Plan, Uses Hays County’s Plan As A Road Map

May 31, 2018

0 9 minutes read

“This plan is a starting point, not an ending place,” said Gov. Abbott. “It provides strategies that can be used before the next school year begins to keep our students safe when they return to school.”

by, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor

Governor Greg Abbott unveiled his School and Firearm Safety Action Plan in front of local and state leaders at the Hays County Law Enforcement Center in San Marcos Wednesday afternoon.

The Governor’s plan contains 40 recommendations and includes proposals that call for increasing law enforcement presence at schools, strengthening existing campus security programs, enhancing firearm safety, providing mental health evaluations that identify students at risk of harming others and much more.

Wednesday’s announcement, which the Governor unveiled in Dallas and San Marcos, follows a series of roundtable discussions held last week during which the Governor spoke to and received input from victims, parents, educators, lawmakers, law enforcement and policy experts to help generate solutions that improve safety and security at Texas schools.

“Three years ago, almost to the date, we had the flood in Wimberley and the southwest part of our county,” Sheriff Gary Cutler said as he introduced Gov. Abbott. “There were 12 lives lost that day and millions of dollars of property damage. The Governor was there to assist us. He came there. Twelve days ago, we had the incident in Santa Fe; the Governor was there to help out. two days, three days after that, he took a very aggressive approach to the incident that happened.”

Sheriff Cutler said the Hays County Sheriff’s Office appreciated being invited to participate in the roundtable talks.

“What we want to do here as I introduced [Gov. Abbott] is let you know that we are here to support you and our legislators as we do all we can as a group to keep schools safe for our kids,” Cutler said.

The roundtable talks followed the death of two teachers and eight students at Santa Fe High School on May 18 as well as the mass shooting at a Church in Sutherland Springs in November 2017, which killed 26.

“I gotta tell you; these kids are inspiring, to see the way that they are handling this in such a mature fashion,” Gov. Abbott said. “To see the way they are able to come to the Texas State Capital and stand up and articulate what their genuine concerns are and what their rational solutions are.”

Senator Donna Campbell and Representative Jason Isaac were present at the conference.

“I am proud to stand with Gov. Abbott to ensure the safety and well-being of Texas children in our schools,” Campbell said. “Many valuable proposals came out of the Governor’s talks with victims, families, mental health professionals, and law enforcement, and I am committed to help pass and fund as many of these legislative solutions as possible.”

Among the 40 recommendations is a plan established in Hays County.

According to Gov. Abbott, Lt. Jeri Skrocki with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office pointed out at the roundtables the importance of collaboration between schools and local law enforcement being “absolutely essential” to the safety of students at Texas schools. She introduced the School Safety Protocol Plan developed and currently used in Hays County.

The School Safety Protocol Plan is a collaboration between Hays County schools, local law enforcement and first responders. It prepares first responders, school authorities and students on how to respond in a dangerous situation; the plan’s goal is to teach people how to react to situations like an active shooter on campus.

The protocols were developed by Lt. Skrocki, Will Schwall, San Marcos Emergency Management, Assistant Chief Bob Klett, San Marcos Police Department, and Kharley Smith, Hays County Emergency Management Coordinator. Schools in Hays County have been performing the drills since 2012.

“The presence of ALERRT in SM aided us with resource materials as well as the I Love You Guys foundation,” Sheriff Cutler said. “Our goal was to lead the charge in school safety, and we worked together to build this program.”

When asked what sticks out in the Hays County plan, “First is both the level of detail and sophistication, planning and organization of strategies that bring together this collaboration of multiple law enforcement and first responder agencies and the way they can work hand in hand. Basically, it’s a roadmap,” said Gov. Abbott.

“Keeping our children safe must be our highest priority, and I’m grateful to Gov. Abbott for his work developing new priorities to deter future shooters from exploiting our schools,” said State Rep. Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs). “Hays County has led the way in developing innovative law enforcement strategies, and it’s an honor and a privilege to see our first responders’ work recognized as a model for Texas.”

In addition to the actions Gov. Abbott is taking, he will also ask Texas Senate and House leaders to issue an interim charge to consider the merits of adopting a “red flag” law allowing law enforcement, a family member, school employee, or a district attorney to file a petition seeking the removal of firearms from a potentially dangerous person, only after legal due process is provided.

“We share with these students and with these victims a very common bond, and that is we want, in fact, we demand, action to prevent another shooting like what happened at Santa Fe High School,” Gov. Abbott said.

The recommendations announced today identify nearly $120 million in total funding, including $70 million that is already or will soon be available to begin this critical work. Additionally, the Governor has identified a specific need for $30 million that he will work with the Legislature to fund next session.

Next month, the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University will provide training for schools throughout the state of Texas. Lt. Skrocki will participate in the training.

An article about TxSSC’s contributions to Gov. Abbott’s safety plan and next month’s training can be read here.

A full list of the Governor’s recommendations can be found below. The full School and Firearm Safety Action Plan is available here.

IMMEDIATE FUNDING ASSISTANCE TO SANTA FE

Governor’s Criminal Justice Division Grants:

Deploying Crisis Response Counselors To Meet Immediate Mental Health Needs.
Assisting Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Efforts to Provide a Long-Term Behavioral Health Response.
Ensuring First Responders Have Mental Health Resources.
Providing Additional Counselors to ISDs in the Santa Fe Area.
Providing Highly-Trained Counselors to Santa Fe ISD for the Upcoming School Year.
Coordinating Long-Term Community Mental Health Efforts.

U.S. Department Of Education Grant:

Office of the Governor has worked with the U.S. Department of Education to immediately deliver $1 million to Santa Fe ISD through the School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) program.

MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER

Immediately Increase Law Enforcement Presence At Schools:

Schools should collaborate with local law enforcement to heighten police presence on school campuses.
Prioritize hiring retired peace officers – specifically police, sheriffs, and constables – and military veterans for school security.

Train More School Marshals And Improve The Program:

Increase the number of school marshals by funding training this summer.
Increase the number of school marshals that can be appointed per school.
Remove the firearm storage requirement for school marshals who are in direct contact with students.
Revamp marshal training requirements to focus more time on firearms training.
Require annual refresher courses to maintain school marshal skills.

Provide Active Shooter And Emergency Response Training:

Protect students and teachers by better preparing campus security to respond to active shooters.
The Texas School Safety Center will deliver a workshop-based course that allows for hands-on application of high-quality planning practices.
The Texas School Safety Center will partner with the I Love You Guys Foundation to provide training in the Standard Response Protocol and the Standard Reunification Method for school personnel.

Hardening Of Campus Facilities:

Improve the infrastructure and design of Texas schools to prevent security threats

Prioritize Increased Federal Funding Toward Immediate School Safety Improvements:

TEA will work with school districts to prioritize $62.1 million in new federal funding toward immediate school safety improvements, including school hardening, increased law enforcement patrols, implementation of mental health programs, and other recommendations discussed in this plan

Strengthen Existing Campus Security Programs:

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) should review school districts’ and charter schools’ school safety and security audits.
Specifically require certain members of the community to serve on an ISD or charter school’s safety and security committee.
The School Safety and Security Committee should be required to discuss with local law enforcement the expansion of patrol zones to include the school district.
The School Safety and Security Committee should hold meetings at least three times per year.
School Safety and Security Committees should periodically provide updates to the school board.
Schools should be required to notify parents if a significant threat to students’ safety occurs.

PREVENTING THREATS IN ADVANCE

Provide Mental Health Evaluations That Identify Students At Risk Of Harming Others And Provide Them The Help They Need:

To enhance school safety and ensure additional behavioral health services are available to students on-campus, expand access to Texas Tech Health Sciences Center’s Telemedicine Wellness Intervention Triage & Referral (TWITR) Project.

Increase Mental Health First Aid Training:

Increase Mental Health First Aid training during summer 2018

Provide Schools with Behavioral Threat Assessment Programs:

The Texas School Safety Center will partner with SIGMA Threat Management to deliver training on Behavioral Threat Assessment to school personnel.
Better Utilize And Expand On-Campus Counseling Resources:
Prioritize the importance of the mental and behavioral health needs of students by freeing up counselors to focus on those needs, encourage school district’s to add more counselors at the campus level, and appropriate funds to fill in gaps.

Expand Campus Crime Stoppers Programs:

Expand Crime Stoppers operations and launch an awareness campaign for school employees and students to encourage the reporting of tips related to school crime.

Use Digital Technology to Prevent Attacks:

Increase the use and awareness of DPS’ “iWatch Texas” reporting system to enable and encourage parents, students, and teachers to easily report potential harm or criminal activity directed at school students, school employees, and schools.

Deploy More Fusion Centers To Monitor Social Media For Threats:

Increase the number of fusion centers in Texas to improve law enforcement’s ability to identify, process, and resolve potential threats that appear on social media.

Improve Mental Health Crisis Response Infrastructure:

To better respond to the needs of students and school faculty in the aftermath of a crisis, expand the Texas Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Network to improve outcomes.

Increase The Safety Of Charter Schools:

Include charter schools in the same school safety requirements as Independent School Districts.
Allowing charter schools to access similar safety options as Independent School Districts.

Remove From The Classroom Students Who Threaten Teachers:

Protect school employees by implementing a zero-tolerance policy for students who commit assault.
To improve the learning environment by making campuses safer, expand the list of offenses for which a student may be expelled or placed in a disciplinary alternative educational program.
When a student is placed in a DAEP classroom, the school district should implement a cycle of restorative practices designed to address the underlying mental or behavioral health issues, including screenings from the TWITR project or similar programs.

ENHANCING FIREARMS SAFETY

Close Critical Information Gaps To Help Prevent Shootings Like That In Sutherland Springs:

Create a statewide case management system to provide magistrates immediate access to critical information and to speed the timely reporting of court records for federal background checks.

Study A Protective Order Law To Keep Guns Out Of The Hands Of Those Mentally Unfit To Bear Arms, But Only After Legal Due Process Is Allowed To Ensure Second Amendment Rights Are Not Violated:

Encourage the Texas Senate and House leaders to issue an interim charge to consider the merits of adopting a red flag law allowing law enforcement, a family member, school employee, or a district attorney to file a petition seeking the removal of firearms from a potentially dangerous person only after legal due process is provided.

Mandate A 48-Hour Reporting Period To Close Gaps In Federally Mandated Background Checks:

Adjudications affecting the right to legally purchase and possess firearms should be reported within 48 hours. This 48-hour requirement should also extend to protective orders and family violence convictions. Courts should ensure that all disqualifying felony convictions are entered as soon as possible.

Strengthening The Safe Firearm Storage Law: