Petition Goal:
We demand that KISD prioritize student safety over convenience by implementing stricter penalties for bad behavior, enforcing metal detector usage, reducing excessive instructional minutes, and adopting policies like school uniforms and clear/mesh bags to prevent bullying and weapon smuggling during the 2024-2025 school year.

 
Petition Statement:
KISD has repeatedly failed to prioritize student safety, despite its policies claiming otherwise. The district’s focus on profit and convenience over child safety is evident in its enforcement of Yondr pouches instead of metal detectors, its excessive instructional minutes that harm mental health, and its lack of proactive measures to prevent bullying and violence.

In the 2024-2025 school year, weapons and threats have already circulated on KISD campuses multiple times, yet staff seem more concerned with enforcing Yondr pouches than using installed metal detectors. This negligence puts our children at risk.

Additionally, Texas requires 180 days of instruction and 75,600 operational minutes per school year. KISD exceeds this requirement with 76,260 minutes, which is 660 extra minutes (11 hours).

Research shows that excessive time in school contributes to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues in children.

As we approach the end of the 2024-2025 school year, we demand that KISD take immediate action to:

➤ Enforce metal detector usage over Yondr pouches to ensure weapons are not brought onto campuses.

➤ Reduce instructional minutes to the state-required minimum to protect students’ mental health.

➤ Implement a school uniform policy to prevent bullying based on clothing and socioeconomic status.

➤ Mandate clear/mesh bags, purses, lunchboxes, and pencil cases to prevent the smuggling of weapons, drugs, and other banned items.

Our children deserve a safe and supportive learning environment. KISD must stop prioritizing convenience and profit over student safety and well-being.

 
Call to Action:
We, the undersigned, demand that KISD:

➤ Enforce metal detectors consistently and effectively for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year and beyond.

➤ Reduce instructional minutes to the state-required 75,600.

➤ Adopt a school uniform policy to prevent bullying.

➤ Mandate clear/mesh bags to prevent smuggling of weapons and banned items.

➤ Implement stricter penalties for bad behavior to ensure accountability.

➤ We also call on the Texas Governor and local legislators to hold KISD accountable for failing to prioritize student safety.

 
Supporting Evidence:
➤ Weapons and threats have been reported on KISD campuses multiple times during the 2024-2025 school year.

➤ Texas requires 75,600 operational minutes, but KISD exceeds this with 76,260 minutes (660 extra minutes, or 11 hours).

➤ Studies show that excessive time in school contributes to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues in children.

➤ School uniforms have been proven to reduce bullying and create a more inclusive environment.

➤ Clear/mesh bags are an effective way to prevent the smuggling of weapons and banned items.
 
Signature Goal:
We aim to collect 5,000 signatures by May 1, 2025, to present this petition to the KISD Board of Education, the Texas Governor, and local legislators before the last day of school on May 22, 2025.