KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — KILLEEN, TX (KXXV) — The Killeen community remains shaken after the death of 14-year-old Serenity Baker, but Dalton Rudd, founder of the Boys Matter to Men mentorship program, refuses to let the conversation fade. At the most recent Killeen ISD board meeting, Rudd urged district leaders to take meaningful action.
Watch Rudd speak to Josh Crawford about the program:
“As parents, as teachers, as programs in the community—we’ve got to put people in these schools to prevent tragedies like what happened a few weeks ago,” Rudd said.
Boys Matter to Men is a mentorship program that focuses on providing young boys with guidance, structure, and emotional support, aiming to tackle issues at their core rather than reacting to them. Rudd describes his organization as a “holistic approach to resolving some of the deep-rooted issues we see in our community.”
However, Rudd believes KISD’s response so far has been inadequate.
“It didn’t just affect the school. It affected the whole community,” he emphasized. He sees the current moment as an opportunity to create lasting change rather than continuing to react without a plan. “Right now, I think we’re still in that response mode. We’re still responding, and we’re not developing anything to be proactive, so it’s a lot of talking right now,” Rudd explained.
Despite the difficulties, Rudd believes that local groups, organizations, and school leaders must come together to focus on what truly matters—the students.
“While everything is heightened, and everybody’s ready to take action, we have to keep that energy going, we have to capitalize on it, and don’t stop until there’s change,” he urged.
The organization has worked with KISD in the past, but Rudd understands that the legal complexities of this situation present new challenges. His primary request? Consistent and constant access inside schools.
“I think we need it now more than ever. If my program had been in that school, I believe this incident could’ve been prevented,” he said.
As Killeen ISD and the broader community continue to navigate how best to support students, Rudd’s message is clear: addressing student safety requires more than reaction—it requires proactive engagement.
