House Bill 121, a cleanup measure tied to last session’s school-safety reforms, was explained Tuesday in the Committee on Education K‑16 and left pending after testimony divided between school‑district police chiefs and advocates for outside reporting.Lede: The committee heard competing views on HB 121, which would allow the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to commission peace officers for school‑safety purposes, create renewed timelines for “good cause” exceptions and intruder audits reporting, and change how some misconduct reports are routed.

Nut graf: Supporters say the changes create tools for smaller districts and improve information sharing; opponents and some witnesses warned that an amendment that would force reporting to outside agencies could strip local independent school district (ISD) police of investigations they now perform and delay victim services. The bill was left pending subject to the call of the chair.

Body: Senator West laid out HB 121 as a follow‑up to last session’s House Bill 3 safety reforms. The measure would permit TEA to commission peace officers to support local law enforcement during emergencies, clarify that TEA‑commissioned officers are not full‑time campus officers, and require TEA to receive certain law‑enforcement information to support investigations. The bill would also clarify renewal schedules for “good cause” exceptions to armed guard and facility requirements and create a legislative report based on intruder‑detection audits and district vulnerability assessments.

Faith Colson, a private citizen who testified in support, said the bill’s intent to remove conflicts of interest where school‑based officers investigate school employees is welcome but cautioned that changing the reporting threshold from “reasonable cause to believe” to a higher “evidence” standard could chill reporting. Colson said: “When in doubt, report out,” and argued that employees should not be expected to gather evidence themselves because that can compromise criminal cases.

Several school‑district police chiefs opposed amendments that would require reporting to outside law enforcement and prohibit reporting to ISD police. Eric Mendez, chief of police for Cypress‑Fairbanks ISD, said his department investigates staff misconduct immediately, notifies Child Protective Services (CPS), and worried that outside agencies’ heavier caseloads might prolong investigations. Chad Springer, chief of police for Lake Dallas ISD, said the amendment is “a slap in the face” to certified ISD officers and urged the committee to use existing criminal statutes to address any failures to report rather than adopt a blanket ban on ISD investigations. Heath Wester of the Texas School District Police Chiefs Association supported the bill’s TEA commissioning language for small districts but opposed provisions reducing ISD authority.

The Texas School Safety Center and TEA had requested clarifying statutory language, and the bill also requires a team conducting a behavior‑threat assessment on a special‑education student to include someone familiar with the student’s disability. Committee members asked technical questions; no amendment was adopted on the floor during the hearing. Public testimony closed and the bill was left pending subject to the call of the chair.

Ending: The committee did not vote; staff and sponsors indicated willingness to continue technical work. The chair left HB 121 pending for future consideration.