Uvalde Schools Get $442,000 from John Cornyn’s Federal Gun Safety Law
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Texas school districts are set to receive an impressive sum of almost $8 million from the Justice Department in order to enhance the security measures on their campuses this year. This funding is made available through the bipartisan gun safety law that was enacted during the summer. The district of Uvalde, in particular, will benefit from almost half a million dollars.
Under the gun safety law, there is a provision that allocates $100 million to a grant program established by the DOJ. This program enables school districts to invest in safety programs and technology. In total, 28 school districts in Texas have been awarded grants, with the combined sum reaching $7,923,719. The grants are distributed by the DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, taking into account the financial needs and security proposals of each district.
Texas has been granted more school district grants than any other state. However, considering the fact that the state has over 1,000 public school districts, only a small fraction of schools have benefited from these grants.
Nonetheless, for the recipients, these grants represent a significant boost in security funding. Uvalde, for instance, has received $442,400 from the grant program, surpassing the $435,270 allocated for security and monitoring in the school district’s 2021-22 budget. Other major urban school districts in Texas, such as Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth, have also received grants. Additionally, school districts in the Houston area and North Texas have collectively received over $1 million in funding.
Uvalde also received $69,000 in 2020 as part of a Texas Education Agency grant program aimed at fortifying school security. This was in response to the tragic shooting at Santa Fe High School in 2019. However, despite these efforts, a shooting still occurred at Robb Elementary in May. Nevertheless, both Congress and Texas Republicans are steadfastly committed to school-hardening initiatives in order to prevent future tragedies.
During the summer, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath informed state senators that his agency intends to assess the entry points of every school in the state, which encompasses over 3,000 campuses and potentially up to 80,000 buildings. In addition, U.S. Representative Mayra Flores, a Republican from Los Indios, has introduced legislation to redirect $11 billion from the Internal Revenue Service towards state grants for school mental health programs, security, and other violence-prevention measures. This includes an extra $300 million for the COPS grants program.
In contrast, Democrats have criticized school hardening as being less important than gun control reform. However, merging these two priorities was a key aspect of the bipartisan gun safety legislation spearheaded by Senator John Cornyn. This legislation, which is the first significant gun control legislation to pass since 1994, goes beyond school safety and includes provisions to limit access to firearms for individuals convicted of domestic abuse. Nevertheless, it falls short in several Democratic objectives, such as implementing universal background checks, raising the legal age for purchasing firearms, and enacting an assault weapons ban. The bill was passed with broad bipartisan support in the Senate.
Some Texas Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz and all Texas Republicans in the House except for Representative Tony Gonzales from San Antonio, did not vote in favor of the bill. Representative Gonzales’ district includes Uvalde.
Furthermore, the gun safety law sets aside an additional $200 million to assist schools with student and faculty training, as well as other violence-prevention efforts.
Cornyn stated, "No parent should have to worry about their child’s safety when they drop them off at school, and no student should fear walking into a classroom." He expressed gratitude that this funding is being utilized to implement meaningful solutions, prevent violence, provide training for school staff and students, and apply evidence-based threat assessments in Texas schools, particularly in light of the tragedy that occurred in Uvalde.
This article was originally published in The Texas Tribune, an impartial newsroom focused on informing and involving Texans in state politics and policy. To learn more, visit texastribune.org.
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