The side of a Comal County Sheriff’s Office vehicle.
Nicholas Hernandez/MySA
Students at Hill Country College Prep High School returned to class this week, several days after a 15-year-old student shot a teacher on Monday, March 30.
The student then turned the gun on himself, according to the Comal County Sheriff’s Office. Comal ISD officials confirmed that the student died at the scene, shortly after the incident occurred. Reports also said the gun belonged to the student’s grandfather.
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Now, as the district attempts to move forward from the tragedy, some parents say they are dissatisfied with how officials have responded to the incident and how the return to school was handled, citing ongoing safety concerns.
Latest on Hill Country College Prep High School shooting
Last week, the sheriff’s office told MySA the injured teacher was in stable condition. Authorities have yet to publicly identify the teacher and student, who officials said may have been struggling with their grades. It remains unclear if the shooter was a student of the teacher.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, there was no school resource officer on campus at the time of the incident.
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In an email sent to parents this week, the district outlined several additional safety measures, including an increased law enforcement presence at the high school. The district has also provided staff with “upgraded silent panic alert technology,” and it will begin using enhanced video surveillance, visitor management systems, and threat assessment programs, as well as a continued partnership with local law enforcement.
The campus-wide email also asks students and parents to make sure students do not bring backpacks to school at this time. If students bring their lunch boxes to campus, they will be instructed to “drop it off immediately upon entering the building.”
The high school campus is also closing off “any spaces” where the incident may have occurred for remainder of school year.
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Parents react to safety concerns as students return to class
For at least one Hill Country parent, the added security measures are not enough to quell safety concerns. Oscar Sanchez, whose two daughters attend Hill Country College Prep, says it still doesn’t feel like enough — and he considered not sending his kids back to school at all.
“It’s very disheartening to see this from our district leaders,” Sanchez told MySA. “This student walked through the front door, [by] our principals and staff, and this happened. We need metal detectors in our schools.”
Officials have not provided key details about the incident.
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Another Bulverde mom, Kiera Nicole, said in a Facebook post one day after the incident that she pulled her daughter out of public school entirely.
“How many “close calls” before we stop pretending this is enough?,” she said in the post criticizing Comal ISD.
“This is not about one more annual lockdown training and a PowerPoint pretending that counts as a plan. This is about leadership. We have a school safety crisis,” she continued.
“If the Comal Independent School District can afford Friday night lights, constant sports upgrades and extravagant stadiums at each HS campus, it can afford Monday morning security!”
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Sanchez tells MySA he will be joining other parents at an upcoming school board meeting on April 23, where he hopes to address the district and ask for an immediate overhaul of its crisis protocols — along with key insights about past lockdowns.
“We are no longer satisfied with vague notifications that a campus was ‘secured,'” he tells MySA. We want a comprehensive, five-year public record of every lockdown, “secure” event, and threat-related closure from 2021 to now. This must include the specific cause — whether it was a weapon on campus, a social media threat, or local law enforcement activity. We cannot fix a safety crisis if the district continues to hide the data on how often our children and staff are actually in danger,” he said.
MySA has reached out to Comal ISD for comment, but a district representative was not immediately available. Should a statement be provided, this article will be updated.