What Texas schools must do to prepare for tragedies like active shootings

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Like most parents, Marcus Brooks worries about his children's safety when they're at school.

"Of course I worry about it," Brooks said. "Safety is first. If you're not safe, how are you going to truly concentrate on learning?"

The Texas Education Code requires every school district in the Lone Star State to conduct a safety and security audit every three years.

If you look at just the big picture, Texas schools meet state requirements when it comes to safety.

"Vastly the majority of schools are in compliance with all aspects of the Texas Education Code," said school safety expert Tom Kelley.

However, the mandates are broad and they are the same for districts who have only a few hundred students and those with hundreds of thousands of kids.

Every single school in Texas must have an emergency evacuation plan and conduct audits.

"It leaves it up to school districts to be able to allow flexibility for them to choose how to protect their schools," Kelley said.

The findings of the state survey show 90 percent of schools screen visitors and 96 percent keep doors locked. But only about seven percent of Texas schools use metal detectors.

"If you think of absolutely running every kid in a 2000, 3000 person school, every bag, every purse through a metal detector, it's not functionally possible," Kelley said.

We asked HISD board trustee Yolanda Jones if the district was prepared when it comes to students with mental health issues.

"I will say this. We voted since I've been on the board that we're going to provide counselors and social workers to every school," Jones said.

Every campus doesn't have that now, but she vows that's going to change and every school will have them. "No ifs, ands or buts," Jones said.