FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Emily Dove (512) 463-0111
Texas Senate Passes Senate Bill 11, A Bill to Strengthen School Safety
April 29, 2019- (Austin, Texas) Senate Bill 11 by Senator Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) was passed
out of the full Texas Senate today with a vote of 29-2. The bill aims to better prepare and equip
schools to handle security threats and provide resources to support the mental health of public school
students. Specifically, SB 11:
• Requires the Texas Education Agency to ensure that building standards provide a safe and
secure environment.
• Offers loan repayment assistance to those who serve as school counselors and licensed
specialists on school psychology.
• Offers a grant program for one time facility hardening for schools.
• Requires that teachers, including substitute teachers, receive safety training and have access
to a phone or electronic device to allow for quick connection to first responders in the event
of an emergency.
• Requires that mental health authorities employ a non physician mental health professional to
serve as a resource and provide training to school district personnel.
• Requires that schools adopt a multi-hazard emergency operations plan and appoint a school
safety committee.
• Requires that schools establish Safe and Supportive Care teams comprised of school
personnel.
• Trains educators on methods of interacting with students coping with past trauma.
Upon passage of the bill, Senator Taylor said, “We know that we cannot prevent every tragedy, and
there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for strengthening school security, but SB 11 provides the
framework to empower school districts to do what’s best for them and their students.”
The bill was filed in response to the May 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School and creation of the
Select Committee to Study Violence in Schools and School Security. The Select Committee held four
hearings over the summer of 2018 and published a report on its findings that can be read in full here:
https://senate.texas.gov/cmtes/85/c565/c565.InterimReport2018.pdf
Senate Bill 11 as it was passed by the full Senate can be read here:
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=SB11
Senator Larry Taylor is a lifelong Texan and Baylor University graduate raised in Friendswood.
Before his election to the Texas Senate in 2012, he served five terms in the Texas House of
Representatives. Senator Taylor was appointed Chairman of the Senate Education Committee in
- In 2018, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools
and School Security.
