On August 5, 2022 Houston ISD Superintendent Millard House II declared that Houston ISD Police were not prepared for an Active Shooter Scenario.

If the largest school district in the State of Texas unprepared, the I would guess that most of the other districts are unprepared.

With that said and knowing how inept the action was the Uvalde shooting, there needs to be a higher standard for being a School Police Officer. Many are nearing the end of their career, looking for and easy duty or just plain incompetent.

I propose that in order to be qualified to be an officer in a school you must have military training (not just any military training but must be a former Navy Seal or Special Ops Marine or Soldier) or SWAT training. Within each police force there must be a special response unit to respond to Active Shooters.

You are asking why there should be officers with such high level training. They are used to creating and executing plans for rescuing people. They have the ability to assess situations quickly, develop a plan and execute it. They will not stand around for 75min and wait for an gunman to kill 19 children and 2 teachers while they wait outside like cowards.

By hiring specialist with the willingness to put their lives on the lives on the line for others, they will discourage bad people from attacking schools. They will act swiftly and courageously to save the students and staff.

David R. Taylor, Retired Educator