New door locks, more armed guardians coming to Moran ISD due to school safety legislation

MORAN, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)- Like school districts across the state, Moran ISD is working to address the school security measures handed down by Texas Lawmakers in this most recent legislative session. Moran ISD Superintendent, Dr. John Denson says he is confident in the security changes the district has implemented throughout the past few decades and he looks forward to the way the legislature has seen fit to address the issue.

“I commend the overall, the heart of our legislators. I believe their heart was in this and they really spent some time trying to resolve problems, and there’s always going to be problems,” Denson said.

The bills passed in the 89th legislative session that will have the most impact on school safety include provisions that would require all campuses to adopt new security procedures, install new equipment and technology, and in some cases even new hires. All of those changes can add up quickly, especially for smaller districts. However, Dr. Denson said that thanks to a couple of school safety grants, Moran ISD is actually ahead of the curve on their campus upgrades.

“We’re very fortunate. . . in having the safety grants in and we build some new fencing and uh, the board just approved, uh, over $100,000 just for new door locks,” said Denson.

During its regular July 17th meeting, the Moran ISD School board elected to go into executive session to discuss the details of the state’s security measures. The public, including KTAB/KRBC, is not allowed in the chambers during executive session. After returning to the public session, the board voted to add two new ‘guardian’ positions, which is a plain clothes adult who has been certified to be armed on campus. This brings the total number of guardians up to 5 on the Moran ISD campus.