HOUSTON – Liz Hanks is a mom who is demanding action after the devastating school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
“We need to keep the guns out of the school, and we need to keep the guns out of the hands of people who would do others harm or themselves harm,” said Hanks, the Texas Chapter Lead for Moms Demand Action.
Ten years ago, she said her life looked a lot different.
“I had a 3-month-old when Sandy Hook happened, and I remember I wasn’t involved in this movement yet and I remember scrolling past the stories,” she said. “I just couldn’t soak them in.”
Now, with a kindergartner and a third-grader, she said she can’t look away.
“There’s so much we can do,” she said. “We just have to take the first step.”
Joined by district leaders on Wednesday, HISD Superintendent Millard House II and HISD Assistant Police Chief Lucretia Rogers worked to give parents some peace of mind.
“We’ll be taking a look at what things we can do from an operational standpoint, but those are not things that can happen overnight,” House said.
Currently, all secondary schools in the district have HISD police officers. There are 200 officers in total.
In July, HISD police said they are planning to beef up their emergency response teams.
“We do active shooter training annually where we do three-man scenarios,” HISD Assistant Police Chief Lucretia Rogers said. “We put them through real-life scenarios when it comes to active shooter drills.”
They’re also increasing patrols and security at the end of the year school events.
Other districts like Katy, Conroe and Pasadena ISD are, too.
Hanks said she wants to see a change in the legislature.
“I feel like we are missing the point if we’re trying to protect the kids in the schools and turn the schools into a prison,” she said.
KPRC 2 reached out to the President of the Texas School District Police Chiefs’ Association about school safety and he sent us the following statement:
“On behalf of the members of the Texas School District Police Chiefs’ Association, we offer our sincerest condolences to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and community. The Texas School District Police Chiefs’ Association stands ready to support the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and community any way that we can. As an association, we will be debriefing this incident. Every day, school district police officers protect children. As we grieve this horrific tragedy together, we remain focused on keeping all schools safe for our students, staff and communities,” said Humble ISD chief Solomon Cook.