Texas schools plagued by threats as TEA considers cell phone ban; Congress looks at kids social media [Video]

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Just weeks into the school year, Texas school districts responded to numerous violent threats, with Nexstar’s Texas stations reporting on threats to at least 20 schools.

Read More: Wave of violent threats hits Texas schools

State lawmakers on Wednesday reviewed the impact of House Bill 3, a 2023 school safety law passed in aftermath of the Uvalde school shooting.

Lawmakers and superintendents at that hearing identified shortfalls in the law, which imposes broad security mandates that include infrastructure changes, training upgrades and an armed guard at every campus. But some lawmakers said that the bill did not come with enough money to implement those requirements.

Rep. Steve Allison, R-San Antonio, said Texas “has created another unfunded mandate for something very important.”

The law provides $15,000 per campus for school security, but that “does not come close” to paying for a full-time armed officer, one school official told the committee Wednesday.

Texas School Safety Center’s Dr. Kathy …