Dallas City Wire

School leaders and law enforcement attended a conference on Tuesday in Richardson where they met with school safety experts, according to a report from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) NBC affiliate KXAS. 

Campus security is among the issues being discussed in the ongoing 88th legislative session in Austin.

A retired administrator whose public school district was the site of a mass shooting nearly half a decade ago served as the conference’s keynote speaker, sharing her unenviable experiences. 

“The idea of a mass shooting at all is difficult, but to involve children in senseless acts is something that is very difficult for people to accept, of course, and then understand,” Dr. Leigh Wall, who formerly led the Santa Fe Independent School District (SFISD) from 2008 to 2021, said, per KXAS. “So, that is the hope is that we can work together to learn and hopefully prevent these in the future, and at the very least do a better job of responding, and be prepared to do that.” 

Wall was SFISD superintendent on May 18, 2018, when a teen gunman barged into an art classroom at Santa Fe High School and killed 10 people, including eight students. 

Santa Fe is approximately 36 miles south of Houston.

The events of that horrific day serve as Wall’s new purpose as a retiree. 

“What I hope my job now is, is to work with schools, school leaders, communities and organizations that support schools and school safety, to help make the world a better place,” she said, KXAS reported. 

Region 10 Education Service Center safety and security coordinator La’Evening Woodard and retired Dallas Independent School District (DISD) Chief of Police Craig Miller spoke at the conference, the station reported.

“I hope they have this takeaway … Safety is everyone's responsibility,” Woodard said. 

According to One America News (OAN), the Texas House of Representatives recently approved a trio of bills that seek to boost school safety across the state.

Among the measures is House Bill (HB) 3, which online legislation database LegiScan explained pertains to “the development of, implementation of and funding for public school safety.” 

The majority GOP-sponsored HB 3, which was penned by State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and calls for schools to employ at least one armed sentinel, passed the lower chamber with a vote of 119-25, OAN reported.