School districts around the Valley are taking extra precautions to keep their campuses safe for the upcoming school year after the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde that left 21 people dead. 

"I think added security is a great start for extra protection for our children," Brownsville ISD parent Yolanda Ramirez said. "Which makes us parents feel safer."

Brownsville ISD Superintendent Rene Gutierrez is taking parents' concerns on school safety measures into consideration.

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"We're going to have to now look into perhaps having armed officers at elementary schools," Gutierrez said. "We don't have them now, but that's something that we're now going to have to look into."

Research from The Justice Policy Institute in Washington D.C., a national nonpartisan research and policy organization with expertise in juvenile and criminal justice issues, shows added law enforcement does not necessarily make students and staff safer.

"Unfortunately, over the years, the research has shown that really, there is no public safety benefit to having police in schools," Justice Police Institute Executive Director Marc Schindler said. "The research doesn't support having police in schools, doesn't say that it makes school safer."

The research shows that increased security could have unintended consequences, particularly an increase in student suspensions, expulsions or prosecution.  

Research also shows having police and security makes students feel less safe. 

"That's really important to understand because the key to having safe schools, and safer schools, is to have younger people feel safer," Schindler said. 

Schindler says investments in schools for counselors and social workers are what will help make schools safer.

"We have to do our part to listen to our children," Ramirez said. "It's not just the parents fault, it's not just the child's fault, we all have to work together as a community."

A 2019 study co-written by Jagdish Khubchandani, a professor of public health at New Mexico State University, says while millions of dollars have been poured into hardening school districts, there is little evidence that shows it decreases gun violence in schools.

"The default reaction is to just do something and that's where you find the easiest route--to harden the schools, add more police officers-- but no one is really asking are these measures really effective," Khubchandani said. 

Both experts believe that money should be better invested in counseling and social workers for schools.

"As a parent and someone who researches these issues, it's very clear where we should be making our investments and it's not in school police," Schindler said.

Brownsville ISD currently has a threat assessment team to improve the way law enforcement and schools respond to students who may displace disruptive behavior.

Counselors are available at all of their campuses.