MANSFIELD (CBSDFW.COM) – In the wake of the deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School, some school districts across Texas are evaluating/increasing security on their campuses.
There will now be a noticeable difference at every public school in the Mansfield Independent School District. While school leaders are not aware of any threats in the district, the shooting in southeast Texas has prompted changes.
Starting today, there will be an armed police officer on each campus in the Mansfield ISD, which has 44 schools and more than 34,000 students. The police presence will continue through the remainder of the school year — which ends on Wednesday.
The additional help for Mansfield ISD police comes from officers with the Mansfield Police Department, Tarrant County constables, and sheriff’s deputies.
In a letter to parents, Superintendent Jim Vaszauskas said the district wants “to take every precaution to ensure our students and staff are safe.”
The Mansfield ISD has a newly formed Safety Planning Committee – a group that includes administrators, parents, students, teachers, and members of the community. Committee members will evaluate ideas presented to make schools safer and then make recommendations to the school board. The school board will then decide which new safety measures to put in place by the next school year.
Administrators with the Arlington ISD also sent a notice to parents that said, in part, “We believe our campuses are safe, and we continue to work to make them safer.” Arlington Police Department officials confirmed that patrols and staffing have been increased since the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida and said “all calls to schools are priority calls now regardless of type of call.”
The last day of school in the Arlington ISD is June 1.