You know, I've had so many teachers walk up to me and ask me, when are you gonna let us carry a gun? Probably never. Not unless I'm mandated to. Why? I can carry a gun. I took an eight hour class. Correct, but that doesn't make you an expert. It doesn't make you proficient. It doesn't give you the ability to decipher when you should take a life and when you should not take a life. It doesn't mean you're qualified. And I listen, I I I certainly understand that there are some instances where you have to arm teachers that, you know, Far West Texas or in very remote areas Listen, they are the first line of defense. Right? I was gonna talk about that. You you brought it up is that we have seen Right? Where multiple facilities. Not just even in the K twelve space, but we've timed emergency response and it's eighteen minutes for one officer to arrive. Mhmm. Right? Best case scenario best weather day, best no traffic, no nothing, best possible response is gonna be eighteen minutes. Oh, that's the thing about that. Just being able to see that and know that it's a know that it's a reality. I still feel the same. You know, that that that lady in in, in in rule West Texas, and she probably went to Tex Tech University with me. Probably not. And she has that and she has that relationship. She has that relationship with little Johnny. And, and, she sees a little Johnny Grove because, hey, everyone's in that same building, they're in that building from, kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. She has a relationship with with little Johnny from third grade. She knows this little Johnny starts changing in seventh grade. But that's where that's what I'm saying. You just hit the nail on the head is that she started noticing these changes in little Johnny, right? That is where we have to intervene. It's not about arming a teacher it's getting ahead of that problem before that kid starts wanting to harm themself or harm someone else. That unresearch has shown that is the most effective way. Yet we have politicians that are pushing agendas like arming a teach or arm, yeah, arming teachers or putting a police officer on every campus without even funding it so that when the next campaign cycle rolls around, they can say, that's what I did. We we put an arm and an officer on every campus knowing that that's not the case -- Correct. -- that no one's enforcing it, but there's no compliance that they haven't funded it but they put it in the law with the hopes that people are not gonna be smart enough to dig deep to see how effective that is, but That's what I'm saying. We've gotta get politics out of out of this space. We have to stop being afraid to talk about the things that no one wants to talk about. We have to stop being afraid that we're gonna offend politicians. Uh-huh. Okay. You gotta count that. Now now I say that it's fine. To have these legislations, but you have these legislations. They're like empty promises. So, hey, this is what I am requiring you to do. You don't do it. Hey, you're supposed to do it. It's fine. Hey, don't worry about it. Do it next time. Until February comes. And we always talk about not if when something is gonna happen. It's gonna happen. Don't know when. We already had guns in Texas schools already. Yeah. First week. First week of school. And so And so is that enough to make someone really build in a compliance piece? We're we're in a situation where we may disagree with things. And there may be some great ideas going out there, but there has to be follow through. And without follow through, there will be no result And so we can keep having the legislature put in rules. We can keep saying, oh, that's a great idea. But what happens when people dismiss that idea. Hey, okay. Nothing. Nothing happens. And then it goes even further than that. Yeah. Nothing happens. But that's the problem. We've seen so many people who are in positions of power, who are regulating or overseeing or or or concocting the ideas of this is the standard practice that we're going to go through. And at the same time that they do that, they go, I don't wanna know whether or not somebody has done that or not. I don't wanna know who needs money to replace the locks in her school. I don't wanna know whose campus can't secure a single door because they're all broken. So I don't even wanna know it. Right? We've had people that are responsible for for those things. Flat out, tell us directly. We don't wanna know because we become culpable. And then that's Then we've also seen this. Yeah. No. No. It's their responsibility. So you're the agency that's designated to be in charge of this. And then you turn around and go, oh, well, not only is it not theirs. It's it's up to legislation. Legislation passes it and then they're like, well, we don't have any money. So, even though you passed it, we don't have any money, so we can't do it. And we're not gonna look at it or do it because there's no enforcement and there's no reason for me to do it because there's no consequences if I don't. So not politics and complete politics. Because what happens is if you're gonna if you're gonna put in these regulations, if you're gonna sign these bills away, make sure that there's something, and we use this term all the time. And I'm and and and I'm actually starting to hate it actually. I hate such a strong word, but I'll be You gotta give it some teeth. I mean, I guess walking around the building doing doing I've done over I've walked in over two hundred buildings. And done audits, done vulnerability assessments, walked around with Mike and and and and done the technology evaluations. And it's it's depressing to know that a district needs something. And they just won't do it. And Well, I don't even listen to sound advice. I'll think it's that further. It's even more frustrating when they go through the process and go get the money and still don't do it. Yeah. But that's the thing about it. So now so now what happens then? We've done all of this baseline stuff. We've given you exactly what you need, and you say that you're there for those students, you're there for your community, and you're really stifling your community because you know this, and you and Another cliche. I guess I'm a cliche guy today. Alright. You know better you do better. We sat down and y'all know who I'm talking about. There's multiple This is not just an one in particular district. We have built out proposals based upon our vulnerability assessments, produce bond packages that were passed a year ago. We're talking or more. We're talking millions and millions double digit millions in more than one case -- Mhmm. -- that they went to their bond or they went to their public. They said, this is what we've identified through our processed. We've done our due diligence. This is how much it's gonna cost taxpayer, and they get it, and it's been a year or more. And we are still waiting. Still. We say it. We say it a lot. Right? I think we every time we get a chance, we talk to parents or put that message out, the only way that this changes is parents. Yeah. I never think about it. It's it's I guess being involved. Being in that educational space, I know parents are involved. But it's it's I hate to say it, but it's not the right parents. It's not the right it's not the right parents are it's not the right technique. Because the parents aren't getting the attention of the districts to drive that initiative, but then also the parents don't they don't always have that knowledge because although they may go to school board meetings, all that public information, that executive session, that closed session, It's a lot in there. Well, and let's, you know, those public comments is open.
