“No community is immune to school violence happening in their backyard."
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) today hosted a School Safety & Security Roundtable alongside Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, San Antonio Police Department Chief of Police William McManus, the National Association of School Resource Officers, and regional school district leadership.
“Last year I helped pass the largest investment in mental health, which included significant funding for school security and violence prevention efforts,” said Congressman Tony Gonzales.
"One way we can help our local school districts and law enforcement is by assisting them with obtaining federal grant money to secure their grounds and bolster mental health resources. That money does no good if it’s sitting in Washington, D.C. and not going to our communities.“No community is immune to school violence happening in their backyard. As kids return to the classroom, we must continue to facilitate conversations and bring stakeholders together to ensure we are doing everything we can to keep our children safe at school,” said Cong. Gonzales.
To help school districts across South and West Texas obtain school safety funding, Congressman Gonzales has partnered with Camila and Matthew McConaughey as a Co-Chair of the Greenlights Grant Initiative’s Congressional Advisory Board. The Greenlights Grant Initiative helps school districts access billions of dollars of available federal funding to create safer school environments.
Additionally, Congressman Gonzales founded and serves as a Co-Chair of the Bipartisan School Safety & Security Caucus. In 2022, he secured $1.2 million in new school safety funding for South and West Texas schools.
School Safety Legislation Backed by Congressman Gonzales:
- UNITED ACT – Recommits mental health resources to underserved communities across the nation
- EAGLES Act – Establishes a national program focused on targeted school violence prevention
- ALYSSA Act – Requires silent panic alarms in all schools to immediately alert law enforcement of an active shooter incident
- Strengthening Our Schools Act – Increases investments in School Resource Officers to help protect students and faculty from potential active shooter situations
- ATTAIN on Mental Health Act – Creates an interactive, online dashboard to expand access to funding for mental health and substance use disorder grants
