School shootings have skyrocketed over the last 15 years. We are not even done with 2024 and there have been 144 shooting incidents resulting in 107 injuries and fatalities just this year alone, according to security.org.
In the most recent school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia, four people were sadly killed, including two students and two teachers. How many more tragedies must occur until this problem has been dealt with? How are students able to sneak weapons on campus without anyone noticing?
Just last month an Akins student brought a firearm to campus and luckily another student reported it to the campus administration. According to an email sent to parents after school that day, the campus administration notified the School Resource Officer who then worked with Austin ISD Police officers to locate the student. Officers quickly located and arrested the student who was found to have a firearm, according to the email.
Details about the incident have been sparse, leaving some students and staff confused and afraid. Students and teachers should not have to come to school constantly worried about the threats of school shootings. Many students may not know what happened on Aug. 29th because the school did not announce anything until school was over.
Some students, teachers, and parents have wondered why a “hold,” in which students and staff on campus are told not to move around until officials deem it safe, was never called that day. Even teachers don’t know the full story of what happened because there have been no meetings or communication about the incident since then.
Akins currently has vulnerabilities regarding school safety, including a lack of fences, and many entrances that are difficult to secure. A fence near the fine arts building and the gym has had a missing bar for at least two years, allowing students to leave campus and return later on the day. This can cause a serious risk since nobody would know what a student can come back with or smuggle inside the school.
Akins has been working on fixing and even implementing new fences on campus. In 2022, Austin ISD voters approved bond funding for a few construction projects that could improve campus security. This includes the addition of a secure vestibule, an interior screening area, at the main entrance of the school, as well as high fencing and secure gates that would enclose the portables along with the main buildings of the campus. This would benefit our school, especially in the fenced area there’s a lack of fences at the portables everyone just drives inside our school to skip traffic, making it feel unsafe because anyone could just drive or even enter campus from one of the multiple entrances secured only by a locked door.
Some critics have argued that the state hasn’t provided enough funding for campuses to make the necessary improvements to upgrade security to make students, staff, and parents feel safe on campus. They say the blame lies with state leaders who have not increased the pre-student basic allotment since 2019. During the legislative session in 2023, Gov. Abbott said he would not agree to sign a bill with increased school funding unless lawmakers also approved a voucher program that would send public school dollars to private schools. When lawmakers objected to this proposal, no additional funding was approved and now many school districts are forced to cut their budgets even while their needs are increasing, including Austin ISD.
“The main reason for Texas’ school funding crisis is the legislature’s failure to increase the basic allotment during the 88th session,” says Raise Your Hands Texas.
These are the same lawmakers who would use school shootings as part of their speeches to get sympathy but then vote for less school funding. Besides providing additional funding, Abbott has also not supported other measures that could improve school safety like increasing from 18 to 21 the age at which people can buy assault rifles like the one used at the Uvalde school shooting tragedy in 2022.
First of all school shootings happen for many reasons but there’s always one key detail, I don’t know what goes in Abbott’s head but you need a gun to do that ergo the name school shooting. Not only are we having trouble with funding but our governor isn’t even focusing on one of the biggest problems with school shootings.
As a student, I can only hope we get better security. Even if we do get better security that won’t change the fact that any 18-year-old can legally buy a weapon. Abbott says he believes it is, unconstitutional to increase the minimum age to buy assault rifles, making any efforts by state lawmakers futile because he would likely veto any bills that would do so. This whole thing is so ridiculous. The way Abbott thinks about school funding and school safety is ridiculous. It’s infuriating how he and other lawmakers talk about wanting to stop school shootings, but then do nothing. Maybe you should do something about it, Mr. Abbott.
