On Monday the largest wave of students will head back to school in North Texas. About a dozen districts start classes in the morning, including the two largest school districts, Dallas and Fort Worth.
As summer comes to an end, students parents, and teachers will be focused on getting back into the swing of a routine.
"Making sure bedtime is on time, making sure dinner time is around the same time every day, waking up a little bit earlier," said Kelly Preisz, a mother of three.
Her oldest son will be a junior in high school in Dallas Independent School District, her middle child will be starting pre-K in the district.
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"He's three and just letting him go to a classroom where I don't have full access to it is a little scary," described Preisz.
The kid's backpacks were already prepped to go for Monday morning. The school supplies are visible from the outside because they're in clear backpacks, which is part of the Dallas ISD's new policy.
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The district now requires students in grades K-12 to carry a clear bag. The Dallas ISD said mesh bags are optional. Students can have a small pouch for items such as money, phones and hygiene products.
Also this year, school districts will be required to have an armed security guard at every campus, per a new state law that takes effect on Sept. 1.
Dallas ISD said it will not be able to meet that deadline due to the challenge of an officer shortage and lack of funding, according to the superintendent. The Dallas ISD is not alone, as other districts try to hire security personnel in time.
Larger districts can ask for more time.
“We are not going to have 167 additional officers available at every single one of our schools,” said Stephanie Elizalde, Ph.D., during a news conference last week. “The feasibility of that is not possible. So, what they will see is they might see officers that will be coming during certain periods of time at elementary schools.”
“The expenditures are in the neighborhood of $12 million. I would state it is a $7 million, $8 million unfunded mandate for support that is necessary,” Elizalde said. “While certainly dollars are important, remember that this board will never have dollars be an impediment to safety. So, we would prioritize that. But truly, the biggest issue is the availability of workforce.”
She said they plan on looking into other options. The law gives administrators the option to hire licensed private security firms including Level III commissioned security officers. Level III commissioned officers do not have the authority to make an arrest.
“With what’s happened all over the country, you want your kids to be secure, there is some apprehension going into the school year. Like is this year going to be my student’s year where they have something bad happen? The fact that they’re not going to have armed guards at every single school, it’s a little unsettling but at the same time it’s just kind of been the status quo up until recently. So you still have the same fear you don’t feel any safer," said Preisz who wasn't sure if her youngest son's school would have a guard.
When it comes to transportation, the district said all the buses will have a new tracking system with real-time GPS. Parents are able to download an app and locate their child.
"They can track the bus, see exactly where the bus is, if it’s running five minutes late if they're stuck in traffic they’ll be able to see all of that," said Jaime Sandoval, executive director of student transportation for the Dallas ISD.
He said the old system relied on manual input. Sandoval said the new system is more user-friendly and starts automatically.
"Everything revolves around safety and we want to make sure our parents have enough information, the safety of our kids is paramount," said Sandoval.
