Over the next month, school districts will welcome back students, and Valley parents will need to trust them with keeping their children safe.  

“That's the front line of defense for children,” Jack Jew, a parent of a student with the Brownsville school district, said. “Because It doesn't matter if they're 14 years old like my son, or they're children going into the Pre-K3 program."

While families are soaking up the last days of summer, school police departments are training.

"We want our students, our staff and our visitors that come to our district to be safe," Brownsville ISD police Sgt. Manuel Charles said.

The district is adding ballistic shields to its police department.

“Most of us have gone through shield training, which is very intense,” Charles said. “But at the end of the day, it's another tool in our tool belt that we can deploy."

Under updated requirements done under House Bill 3, all departments must be trained on an active shooter response plan.

The bill also requires armed officers on every campus, something already in place at Brownsville ISD campuses.

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