Texas governor unveils school safety plan

DALLAS -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recommended dozens of strategies to make schools safer Wednesday in the wake of the deadly shooting at a Houston-area high school, including increasing the presence of law enforcement officers at schools.

The Republican and staunch gun-rights supporter released a 43-page report also including suggesting more mental health screening for students. A handful of the recommendations involved gun safety in Texas, a state embracing its gun-friendly reputation with more than 1.2 million people licensed to carry handguns.

Abbott said funding for some of the recommendations will be aided by federal grants, though others require state lawmakers to weigh in.

"We all share a common bond: And that is we want action to prevent another shooting like what happened at Santa Fe High School," Abbott, who is campaigning for re-election, said during a news conference at Dallas school district headquarters.

The report comes a day after students returned to Santa Fe High School for the first time since the May 18 shooting, in which eight students and two substitute teachers were killed and a police officer was critically wounded.

The recommendations were made following three days of mostly closed-door meetings Abbott quickly organized last week with school districts, shooting survivors and groups on both sides of the gun-control debate, among others.

So far, the governor has ignored calls from a handful of lawmakers from both parties to call the Legislature into special session to address gun laws -- a sharp contrast to the response in Florida following the February high school shooting there killing 17 people. Florida lawmakers, who were already in session, passed a gun-control package three weeks later, thanks in part to a lobbying campaign led by student survivors of the attack.

Texas lawmakers aren't scheduled to meet until January 2019. And unlike the students in Florida, several students at Santa Fe High School have been vocal opponents of increased gun control, including some who were invited to meet with Abbott last week.

Students who had classes in the area of the shooting were the first allowed back into the school Tuesday, followed by the rest about two hours later. All students then gathered for a two-hour assembly honoring the victims, and counselors were available.

Abbott visited the campus Tuesday, privately speaking with students, parents, teachers and staff, and presented first-responders with an award for their actions.

Authorities have charged a 17-year-old student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, with capital murder in the attack. He's accused of using a shotgun and pistol belonging to his father. He's jailed without bond.

The family of one of the students killed in the attack has filed a lawsuit against Pagourtzis' parents.