These are the new Texas laws for school safety going into effect Sept. 1

HOUSTON — With the new school year comes new safety upgrades in classrooms and campuses across Texas.

After the school shooting in Uvalde in 2022, school safety took center stage in Austin this year. Here is a breakdown of what's being done to keep your child safe.

Another school year is here and as your Education Station, KHOU 11 wants to hear from you. Use this survey to tell us what's important to you for the upcoming school year.

READ:  What parents need to know about new Texas laws that affect students starting Sept. 1

Texas House Bill 3

Starting Sept. 1, schools must have armed officers or armed staff members and train staff to ID students who may need mental health support. Lawmakers gave districts flexibility in meeting those requirements.

All classrooms will be required to have silent panic buttons.

The Texas Education Agency will gain more power to make sure campuses are following safety requirements like intruder detection audits or risk state supervision.

The TEA and Texas School Safety Center will now be required to jointly assess campuses’ security at least once every four years.

And parents, districts will notify you of “violent activity” on campus using standards the TEA must now create.

Districts will also need to provide maps of each school to the Texas Department of Public Safety and local emergency responders and let them walk through buildings.

Families from Uvalde and Santa Fe were pushing for a law to raise the age to buy an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21.

The bill advanced further than expected but ultimately failed.