Texas school districts distribute student DNA kits in case of school shootings

Texas school districts will be distributing DNA and fingerprint identification kits for students in grades K-8. These I.D. cards will be kept by parents and guardians who can give them to law enforcement in order to help potentially identify missing children. In the wake of the Uvalde shooting, this decision is making headlines across the state.

Back in 2021, the Texas state legislature passed a law that requires the Texas Education Agency to give inkless, in-home fingerprint and DNA I.D. cards to each public school system in texas.

While it’s not mandatory for parents and guardians to participate, the kits will be distributed beginning this week, according to The Houston Chronicle.

“Caregivers are under no obligation to use the kits, but they must be informed by your institution that the available kits will allow them to have a set of their child’s fingerprints and DNA in that they can turn over to law enforcement in case of an emergency,” reads a letter to recently sent to all HISD principals.

Related: Texas father stands guard outside daughter’s school every day since Uvalde shooting

It’s a horrifying reality that parents and families could potentially need DNA cards in emergency situations, it’s a reality nonetheless.

After 24 children were killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this year, DNA samples were needed to help identify the victims.

National school security consultant, Kenneth S. Trump, tells the Chronicle that parents and guardians should be made aware that these kits are just an added resource in case kids go missing—but that the messaging surrounding these kits shouldn’t contribute to post-Uvalde anxiety.

Related: The Texas school shooting is a harsh reminder of the cruel world we are raising our children in

“Uvalde was such a mess of a situation with so many victims, therefore it was needed there,” Trump said. “We have to be very careful to not base all forward-moving preparedness actions based on a back pattern of the last incident alone.”

Beto O’Rourke, who is running for the governor’s seat opposite current Texas governor Greg Abbott, is criticizing the legislation.

“This is Greg Abbott’s Texas,” he tweeted earlier today. “More school shootings than any other state on his watch but no action to prevent the next.”

Arnulfo Reyes, who survived the Uvalde shooting that left his entire fourth-grade class dead, lambasted the police response earlier this year.

“After everything, I get more angry because you have a bulletproof vest. I had nothing,” Reyes said at the time. “You’re supposed to protect and serve—there is no excuse for their actions, and I will never forgive them.”

Robb Elementary, the site of the mass shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead, is scheduled to be demolished in the near future.