Classes at a boarding school in Montgomery, Colorado, while law enforcement officers use the campus as a training center.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas What else can be done to protect children in schools?

This is a question that has been asked since school shootings across the country in recent years.

In the months following the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last May, Montgomery County saw an opportunity in a place where others had seen a closed school.

Officials saw what was the old Kiefer Crossing High School as a potential way for consistent training of law enforcement officers within the school.

“To be able to just fall into the hands of Montgomery County is probably one of the biggest blessings we have ever had,” Sgt. Jason Smith of the 2nd Montgomery County Constables.

The blessing became a reality after Uvalde last summer. “We are already using the space for other tactical training with our SWAT team. They’re asking me to come out and inspect the facility,” said Jason Millsaps of Montgomery County Homeland Security. “I came in here and they said, ‘That would be a great permanent facility,’ and after a few seconds, we all said, ‘What about an active marksman training lab?’

KPRC 2 Investigates was the first major media outlet to get a first look at the 230,000+ square foot space.

The layout allows for a variety of tactical approaches and response reconstructions that can be carried out day or night.

The county has also signaled that the facility is open for business.

“We don’t try to keep it to ourselves. This is a facility that anyone can use,” said Daniel Peña, an employee who helps manage the facility.

A former SWAT officer says the secret about what Montgomery County has to offer has been blown, and law enforcement from neighboring counties and states have visited the campus as a result.

Millsaps says law enforcement as far away as Minnesota was trained at the school.

However, temporary electrical appliances and generators that blow air into the building are a sign that the program is not permanent.

Montgomery County invested $325,000 in the school using American Plan of Rescue Act funds, but the lease is in effect until the end of March.

Millsaps hopes the state will make a commitment to keep classes of 30-45 officers working without interruption.

“The use of the facility is limitless. If I get the government funding we requested, we can keep this thing up and running all year round, and it will be a full-fledged training center for law enforcement, not just active shooters. [drills]Millsaps said.

Outcome for Smith?

“We want our communities to be safe. We want our children to have a safe place to learn. We want our families to have a safe place to work and we all want to be together at night and at the end of the day.”

“It’s a great idea because they need all the preparation they can get,” said Scott Rice, whose wife Flo was one of 13 people injured in the 2018 Santa Fe school shooting that left 10 people dead.

However, Rice is quick to point out that preparations for a potential school shooting are different from what is actually happening, as seen in the corridors of Uvalde last May.

As Rice put it clearly, “Courage cannot be trained. You can’t force someone to run towards a bullet.”