A grant for a program that was approved by the Hays County Commissioner’s Court last week was fully explained on Tuesday.
Jude Prather, the county’s Veterans Services Officer, briefed commissioners and County Judge Ruben Becerra on the grant for the Volunteer Veterans at School program, which is a function of the Criminal Justice Division of the Governor’s Office.
Prather began his remarks with a nod to school security protocols already in place in Hays County public schools, protocols that were recognized when Governor Greg Abbott chose the ALERRT Center to unveil his own initiative on school safety in the wake of the shooting in Santa Fe.
“Hays County has always been a leader in school safety,” Prather said. “Even Gov. Abbott has recognized Hays County as a leader.” Prather also noted that not only ALERRT but the Texas School Safety Center is located here.
He said students “can’t have a learning environment if it’s not safe.”
Regarding the program, Prather said it “would field about 150 veterans to be another set of eyes in our schools mainly in the mornings and afternoons when buses drop off kids.”
The presence of vets would provide “another level of deterrence, another person to watch out for suspicious behavior.”
Participants in the program would undergo training, a background check and “mental health and physical training” to make sure they were up to the job. The grant being sought would fund “tactical pants, shirts, and some type of official seal and badge of service,” he said. “This person can become a role model or mentor” to students as they arrive at and leave school, sort of a “father figure,” Prather said, suggesting that even parents who are veterans could volunteer.
Prather said that now that the program is “public,” he intends to launch a recruiting drive across the county. “I think this will be beneficial to our county and our schools,” he said. Noting that most veterans still feel a “call to service,” he said he’s “going to make sure we put that call to service to use.”
