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Senate Bill 17 |
Senate Author: Patrick et al. |
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Effective: Vetoed |
House Sponsor: Fletcher |
Senate Bill 17 amends the Education Code to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS), beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, to establish and maintain a school safety training program for eligible employees of a school district or an open-enrollment charter school who hold a DPS-issued concealed handgun license. The bill sets out the powers and duties of DPS in annually providing the training program at certain schools and to certain school employees and establishes prohibitions against requiring an employee to involuntarily participate in the program and imposing a penalty on or taking disciplinary action against an employee for refusing to participate. The bill sets out provisions regarding eligibility for program participation and authorizes an employee who has met the eligibility requirements and successfully completed the program to carry a concealed handgun on certain district or school premises during a high school event or interscholastic event in which district or school students are participating. The bill establishes provisions regarding the limited liability of certain school-related entities, officers, and employees and provides for the confidentiality of all records maintained under the training program, except certain employee identifying information subject to disclosure to a criminal justice agency. The bill establishes the school safety training fund in the state treasury from which funds are to be used to establish and maintain the training program.
Reason Given for Veto: "A safe, secure learning environment is essential to all Texas students. To provide adequate security, we must ensure school safety planning and preparation for all levels of emergencies and threats.
"SB 17 falls short of clearly expressing the role armed school employees would play during times of crisis and emergencies and the qualifications and standards they would have to meet, fails to address secure weapon storage, and carries a $10 million fiscal note.
"I have signed HB 1009 and SB 1857, which take a far more measured approach to school safety, and do not impose a large fiscal burden on taxpayers."