» Local leaders say there will be an increased police and clergy presence this week in Aldine, Houston and Spring school districts.

Final class week often ‘antsy,’ and safety deemed paramount after Santa Fe shooting

As part of Project Safe Start, a grassroots coalition of the three groups started in 1990, local leaders said there will be an increased police and clergy presence this week in Aldine, Houston and Spring ISDs.

The group focuses on the final week of school because it’s a time when students tend to engage in more bad behavior, looking to settle scores or pull pranks ahead of the summer break.

“This is something that’s been going on for many, many years,” Houston Police Assistant Chief Sheryl Victorian said Tuesday. “It’s just the time of year where kids are ready to start their summer vacation, they’re a little antsy. There could be internal conflict or external conflict, and we want to make sure we minimize that.”

In recent years, Project Safe Start leaders have reported no significant violent incidents leading up to the end of school. But law enforcement officials remain on heightened alert following the May 18 shooting in Santa Fe, where eight children and two adults were killed by a high school student who opened fire on campus, police said.

Victorian said Houston police will have a more visible presence patrolling near schools, while Houston ISD police will continue efforts to identify and stop potential threats. Houston ISD Police Chief Paul Cordova said his department has investigated about 100 threats, many of them made on social media, since the February shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead.

“It’s been rough since Parkland with youngsters thinking it’s a joke to make threats,” Cordova said.

A few dozen local clergy, who have been the driving force behind Project Safe Start, echoed calls for responsible behavior by students and attentive supervision by parents ahead of the school year’s end. Spring ISD lets out on Thursday, while Aldine and Houston

ISDs wrap up on Friday.

As part of the effort, dozens of local religious leaders will be patrolling middle and high schools throughout the three districts, looking to provide a positive presence for students.

“We couldn’t come to this without the burden and the concerns of the Santa Fe situation, and also some of the other concerns that are happening within school districts,” said the Rev. F.N. Williams II, a Project Safe Start leader. “I think it’s important for us to reclaim, as others have said, not just our communities, but remember, we must reclaim our communities with faith.”

With the Santa Fe High School shooting fresh in their minds, members of the Houston area’s education, law enforcement and faith communities on Tuesday outlined efforts for ensuring a safe final week of the school year.

Several districts throughout Greater Houston have pledged to add law enforcement officers to campuses following the Santa Fe shooting, with some contemplating whether to keep elevated officer levels through the 2018-19 school year.

Cordova said HISD expects to maintain its current number of on-campus officers next year, despite an expected $3 million cut to the police department’s budget. School officials expect to find the savings through attrition, reduction in administrative staff and less spending on equipment and supplies, among other areas. The district faces a projected $100-million-plus budget shortfall as it finishes crafting its 2018-19 budget.

Many districts have reported receiving threats or students bringing weapons to schools since the Santa Fe massacre, though it’s unclear whether the number of incidents has been elevated in the shooting aftermath.