SAN ANTONIO – Northside Independent School District held a board meeting amid a rise in parental concern after three student arrests involving drugs, guns, and threats.
NISD officials did not address parents directly during the meeting on Tuesday evening, but they said they were taking notes during open comment.
“There have been several incidents with gun threats and guns at school, but there have also been a lot of drugs and fighting going on,” said Ed Mikus, a Brennan High School parent.
In the last few days, a high school student was arrested for having drugs and a weapon on campus. Two 13-year-olds were also arrested for threatening a teacher.
The 13-year-olds attend Briscoe Middle school, and that campus also had a false alarm of a gun on the premises.
“All (my child) heard was lots of rumors from a lot of the other kids, and so he was as just scared and nervous,” said Angie Jane, a Briscoe Middle School mother.
Brennan High School seems to be the main point of concern for many. The school has seen students arrested, a student kill a classmate off campus, and has gone into lockdown. A Brennan teacher voiced her issues during the school board meeting.
“We have serious issues going on in our bathrooms. We have vaping THC and nicotine. We have children piercing their body parts in our bathroom and being assaulted,” said the teacher during the meeting.
The recent arrests come a week after parents voiced their concerns at a BCSO neighborhood safety meeting, where Northside ISD provided an update on recently implemented school improvements to help ensure student safety.
At the neighborhood meeting last week, Sheriff Javier Salazar and several BCSO deputies provided updates on crime and an educational presentation on the dangers associated with THC vape pens.
Although BCSO School Safety Task Force has increased its presence outside campuses, parents say more can be done inside the school. They reported hot spots inside schools where students fight and smoke.
Sheriff Salazar said he would take deputies inside campuses when and if Northside ISD police ask for help.
District officials told KSAT that they have invited BCSO deputies inside for certain investigations but not to patrol school hallways.
