School safety advocates are pushing for this bill to pass.

I'm someone that likes to keep an eye on what Bills are being brought worth over in Austin. I know not every single one is going to pass, but this one caught my eye today. House Bill 204 requires districts to implement a “multihazard emergency operations plan” based on guidelines set forth by the Texas School Safety Center, the governor’s office of homeland security and the state’s education commissioner.

The House Public Education Committee met earlier today on this proposed bill. Representative Shawn Thierry wrote the Bill and has named it Alyssa's Law. It is named after Floridian Alyssa Alhadeff who died in the Parkland high school shooting in 2018. “Our courts have more security, our state capitol has more security, our airports,” Thierry said. “How can we have our most vulnerable population be solid, so unprotected, in the event of a mass shooting or other emergency?”

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A big part of this proposed bill would be installing a panic alert device in all of the classrooms in the state. If pressed, it would ” immediately contact with district
emergency services or emergency services agencies, law enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire departments,” according to the Bill.

A big reason for people potentially now allowing the Bill to move forward would be the cost of a device in every classroom in the state. “Last session, the Texas Legislature gave $100 million to school districts to do exactly this,” Thierry said. “Most schools haven’t even had an opportunity to tap into their allotment.”

We will see where this Bill goes, but I am sure it would help put some parents minds at ease if this were to go into effect.

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