Until recently, schools were not required to provide security for their students and staff. Under the direction of Texas Governor Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott and numerous other proactive state leaders, the focus on school security has changed for the better. Texas has created legislation such as Senate Bill 11 and the new Senate Bill 9 that directly address security issues and mandate that certain requirements are met throughout each school system in Texas.

Attorney General Abbott has recently released a report highlighting what schools can do to increase the levels of security on their campuses. In that report, he lists the following suggestions for all Texas schools:

• Develop, implement and annually practice campus emergency plans. Schools must develop and implement school emergency plans and update their existing plans. Schools should team up with law enforcement to practice school safety drills once a year, rather than once every three years as current law requires.
  
  
• Establish a Campus Crime Stoppers or similar anonymous incident reporting program. According to research by the U.S. Secret Service, most school violence incidents were foreshadowed by warning signs that went unreported to authorities and school personnel. Schools must educate teens that it is “Cool to Come Forward.”
  
  
• Encourage information-sharing between law enforcement, juvenile justice officials and school authorities. Strict interpretations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) have hampered information-sharing between schools and law enforcement during “imminent danger” situations. Information-sharing between school districts and law enforcement must prioritize public safety over personal privacy concerns.

To help school safety administrators improve campus safety, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) provided all Texas public schools with an interactive DVD and CD-Rom, “School Safety: Saving

Lives When Seconds Count.” The video illustrates the enormous impact school and law enforcement personnel can have during a crisis situation. The training materials offer administrators, principals, teachers and school safety officials the tools they need to conduct school safety audits, prepare incident command kits and address warning signs. The materials also include a special School Safety Guide as well as other useful OAG publications addressing juvenile crime and discipline. If your district did not receive a copy of these training materials, please contact us at (866) SAFE-024 or email us at info@learnsafe.org.

Security mandates can place heavy burdens on schools who do not have the expertise necessary to implement them. Ensuring that students and teachers can work in a safe environment is indeed a daunting prospect for schools that are unprepared or unequipped. Because of this, some schools may feel that purchasing products such as camera surveillance systems and checking all visitors against a sexual predator database is only answer. Decisions such as these many times provide a false sense of security as they are point products and not true comprehensive security programs or integrated decision support solutions.

Effective school security requires a layered approach, from prevention program training to coordination with local law enforcement during an incident. A comprehensive program should include:

• District wide risk assessment by seasoned professionals
• Multi-level background checks and campus badging program
• Research based behavioral intervention programs (train the trainer model)
• Emergency management planning and training
• Crisis communications planning and training
• Complete security monitoring and maintenance
• Intelligent video surveillance (actionable)
• Integrated access control, alarm management and school lockdown capabilities
• Visitor and vendor management (and associated response training)
• Coordination with state and local law enforcement and first responders
  

Please select from the choices on the left side of this page for more
information on security mandates in Texas. To find resources that help you
spread the word or implement security solutions during Texas Safe Schools
Week, or for information or assistance on finding security funding for your
school district, contact the LearnSafe™ Initiative at (866) SAFE-024 or by email at info@learnsafe.org.