Mansfield schools will evaluate safety policies in wake of shooting at Timberview High

The Mansfield school district will evaluate its safety policies in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting at Timberview High School, a district spokesperson said.

The school district does not have metal detectors or a clear bag policy. Instead two police officers are stationed at each school.

A safety committee of parents, teachers and residents recommended about three and a half years ago that officers should be on campus, spokesperson Donald Williams said.

“Where we’re at today is the fact that we want to assess and evaluate every aspect of what transpired and then make recommendations as far as how we’re going to move forward,” Williams said.

Police officers are at many Tarrant County area schools.

The Fort Worth Police Department provides officers to middle and high schools in the city, including the Fort Worth, Keller, Lake Worth, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw and Northwest school districts.

The department also conducts annual active shooter drills and partners with districts to conduct exercises to test district and police response, Lt. Brian Clouse wrote in an email to the Star-Telegram.

The H-E-B school district also relies on police to protect students. There was discussion at one time about using metal detectors but the district decided not to, said spokesperson Deanna Hullender.

“The studies that they followed was that the districts that did implement them getting kids into school was taking three hours,” she said.

A training conducted by the Euless Police Department reassured her that students would be safe if a shooting did occur, Hullender said.

“I felt safe knowing that’s what they would do, but I began praying really hard that I’d never have to experience it for real,” Hullender said.

The Keller school district does not use metal detectors but resource officers are equipped with metal detecting wands, a spokesperson wrote in an email to the Star-Telegram.

In the wake of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth introduced the “Securing Children in Schools Act,” which would have created a federal grant to provide schools with metal detectors.

The bill died in committee and Granger did not introduce it in subsequent congresses.

Staff writer Jessika Harkay contributed to this report.

This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 5:01 PM.