How North Texas schools plan to keep your kids safe. ‘We don’t get a second chance’

Safety audits, security cameras and lockdown drills are among the steps North Texas school districts are taking to make sure students are safe when they return to classrooms.

“We don’t get a second chance to get it right,” said Kevin Kinley, the director of safety and security for the Keller school district.

The school year starts as Texas continues to reel from a mass shooting in May at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where 19 students and two teachers were killed. Following the attack, Gov. Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Education Agency and the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University to work with districts on security measures. The groups asked schools to look at the practices they have in place and find any shortcomings that need to be addressed, said Kathy Martinez-Prather, the center’s director.

This includes new requirements that districts audit outside doors and safety measures during the summer. The center has also been charged with conducting unannounced audits to see if an intruder can be detected.

The schools’ audit and other summer preparations required by the state must be done by Sept. 1 and submitted by Sept. 9.

Schools will examine measures like visitor procedures, the presence of surveillance cameras and security officers, whether there are designated primary entrances, the security of portable and interior classrooms, emergency drill schedules, processes for reporting suspicious activity, and whether there are threat assessment teams.

This is in addition to the center’s audits testing if people can get into a school without being noticed.

The center’s audit is meant to be a surprise, but the superintendent and local law enforcement will be generally informed ahead of time. The audits are expected to begin in September and run throughout the school year, Martinez-Prather said. The center’s goal is to cover each of the state’s more than 1,200 independent and charter school districts and nearly 6,500, or 75%, of campuses.

“We are not simulating an individual dressed in threatening manner, looking like a bad actor, trying to aggressively enter a campus,” she said.

But beyond having safety measures, it is important to make sure they’re being followed, said Amy Klinger, the director of programs for the Educator’s School Safety Network, which offers school safety training, services and resources. She also stressed training for staff.

“The concern that I always have is there’s a discrepancy that’s very dangerous between what we say we do and what we actually do,” Klinger said.

For instance, with door locking, it’s important to look at whether schools have the ability to lock doors and a policy to lock doors, but the more important followup question is “Are you locking the doors?” Klinger said.

“That’s the piece that oftentimes ... gets dropped, and it creates the tragedies that we saw in Uvalde,” she said.

After the 2019 shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, near Houston, lawmakers passed school safety legislation to create threat assessment teams and increase the presence of school marshals and mental health resources. Millions were allocated for securing schools. Schools are also required to have a system for students to anonymously report safety concerns.

During a Wednesday news conference in Greenville, Abbott said the Uvalde shooting showed that the laws passed after the Santa Fe shooting either didn’t have teeth or weren’t being fully complied with.

“We expect to reach agreement on even more enhanced standards and ensure that there is going to be teeth to it so that there will be compliance,” the governor said. “And I’ll add to that, we will ensure that there is going to be accountability at all of the levels through the process.”

Abbott noted that he directed the Texas Education Agency to create a new position — chief of school safety and security — to ensure schools are are in compliance with safety standards.

Here’s how nine North Texas school districts are preparing to make schools safe.

Fort Worth

Fort Worth school district staff is set to present a school safety report on Aug. 9 to the school board. A spokesperson for the district declined to comment until after the information is presented.

According to the district’s website, the safety and security department oversees security at schools. This includes school resource officers, part-time peace officers and other safety personnel. A 24/7 security desk answers emergency calls and monitors surveillance cameras.

At a June 9 town hall on school safety, Superintendent Kent Scribner said the district invested in secure entry points at high schools and middle schools. Lockdown drills are conducted twice a year, he said.

Schools remain one of the safest places despite tragedies elsewhere, Scribner said.

“Our schools are safe but they can always be safer and vulnerability will never be eliminated 100%,” Scribner said. “That’s why we have to continue to strive for more.”

Students are often the ones helping to promote safety, Scribner said.

“They know if their classmates are in trouble,” he said. “They know if their classmates are planning something for the most part, and they’ll let us know or a social media post that we’ll see.”

At a Tuesday town hall held by phone and hosted by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, Jerry Moore, the district’s chief of schools, said a safety task force that has spent the summer visiting each school to check locks and card access to buildings. Administrators and staff are trained “around any emergency situation that may come up.” Teachers and campus-level staff can also attend active shooter training courses held by the Fort Worth Police Department.

Students return to school on Aug. 15.

Much of the focus across the state after the shooting in Uvalde has been on school safety, but some — including the Fort Worth school board — have called for laws to tighten gun access. The board on July 12 passed a resolution asking Abbott for a special session to pass “common sense” gun laws to help protect students. Abbott hasn’t asked lawmakers to return to Austin.

The Uvalde school district and other officials have also called for a special session related to gun laws, including the Texas State Teachers Association. The group representing educators has called for policy makers to pass a law raising the age for buying “assault-style weapons” from 18 to at least 21.

Clay Robison, a spokesperson for the group, said school officials need to make their campuses as secure as possible, but “they can’t turn them into fortresses.”

“For one they can’t afford it, and two, that’s not what a school is for and parents wouldn’t put up with it,” he said. “If there was too much security it would intimidate some of the children.”

Schools can do things like make sure their locks work, Robinson said.

“You can install security cameras, if necessary,” he said. “You can restrict access. You can do all of those things, and districts should do that up to a reasonable point.”

But that still doesn’t address the crux of the matter, he said.

“Our schools are not going to be totally secure — our entire community is not going to be as secure as it could be — until something is done to reduce the amount guns that get into the hands of people that shouldn’t have them,” Robison said.

Keller

Many of the state’s mandates are already being done in the Keller school district, said Kinley, the district’s director of safety and security.

“We’re in pretty good shape, but we’re actually going to go back and just make sure we’re not missing anything and make sure we tighten anything up that needs to be tightened up,” Kinley said.

The district screens visitors before they enter schools. There’s also an ongoing project to establish secure entry points for check-in before people can go to a school’s front desk, Kinley said.

The district is updating its notification system. There are multiple ways to notify students and staff in emergencies, including through notifications on desktop monitors, phones, marquees throughout the school, announcements and strobe lights in heavily trafficked areas, he said.

One of the biggest challenges for any district is keeping doors locked, Kinley said. In Keller, principals are implored to make sure doors are locked and propped-open doors are closed.

The district has police officers at each high school and Fossil Hill Middle School, security officers assigned to each middle school and mobile officers who handle middle schools and elementary schools. Kinley noted that the number of police officers for the coming school year is subject to change.

The district is also looking to hold cafeteria drills this year to help prepare for lockdown situations when students are in large groups, Kinley said.

“My thought process has always been that I don’t like to wait until something happens to respond and make changes,” Kinley said. “We try to be at the forefront, and we always think of the mindset of ‘what ifs’ here in our district.”

Students return to school on Aug. 17.

Northwest

Mike Conklin, Northwest school district’s director of safety and security, said the district has “numerous personnel and hardware initiatives in place” to protect students, staff and visitors.

At least two school resource officers are at high schools and at least one is at the middle schools and Steele Early College High School. The officers also assist elementary schools, Conklin said in a written statement responding to questions sent by the Star-Telegram. The district declined a phone interview, but agreed to answer questions by email.

The district recently hired three campus safety coordinators. Each school has multiple locked entry points before visitors can reach students, he said.

All schools also have classroom door locks that can be activated from inside the classroom without a key, and security cameras are installed at each school. The district also has a security call center where team members monitor 911 calls from school phones. Team members also keep district leaders apprised of calls and emergency events through a messaging system, Conklin said.

He said the district plans to enhance security with an alert system that notifies employees when doors are open. Upgraded intercom systems are also being added at all schools. They’ll allow communication to classrooms using sound, light and written messages.

District security officials will finish the state’s reports on time, Conklin said.

Asked about new safety measures or practices since the last school year, Conklin said the district “has always maintained a strong set of safety practices, including regular training in coordination with local law enforcement agencies.” That includes an annual active shooter training during the summer that has been conducted by local law enforcement in conjunction with the district for more than a decade.

“Our message to our community is that school safety is a joint partnership between our district and community, including students and their families,” Conklin said. “Safety and security always remain our priority, as for learning to take place, students must be in a safe environment.”

Students return to school on Aug. 17.

Mansfield

After four people were injured in an Oct. 6 shooting at Timberview High School, the district added “heightened physical security measures” at its schools, a spokesperson said.

The school district has 63 officers from its police department, with one allotted to each campus. The district has partnered with local agencies to make sure additional law enforcement officers are available and has an employee trained to help schools use a real-time surveillance system in high-traffic and common areas, spokesperson Donald Williams said in a statement after the district asked questions be sent in writing.

In addition to security cameras and video intercoms and alarm systems, each school has secure entry areas and a registration system that screens visitors.

Classroom doors have “commercial-grade locksets” and glass panes at “critical locations” have been reinforced. It is also policy for all classroom doors to remain locked, Williams said. Officers walk campuses throughout the day to make sure interior and exterior doors are closed and locked. The district also has a system that notifies the district police department if an exterior door has been propped open, Williams said.

At secondary schools, metal detector wands are used for random searches. The district also employs a coordinator of threat assessment and five full-time threat assessment analysts.

“Our goal is to increase safety and security while also caring for our students and prioritizing their dignity,” Williams said.

The district is on track to complete its targeted partial safety audit by the deadline, Williams said.

The district also formed a Safety Procedure Plan Committee that includes students, staff, safety experts and residents tasked with reviewing safety protocols.

Williams said the committee made recommendations to a state-mandated Safety and Security Committee that’s in the process of “vetting those recommendations to move forward with an enhanced safety plan for the 2022-23 school year.”

Students return to school on Aug. 17.

Arlington

David Stevens, the director of security for the Arlington school district, said the district’s security system includes security personnel, cameras, metal detectors and access control.

The district uses 31 school resource officers and off-duty personnel from the Arlington Police Department, in addition to its 130 security department team members.

The district is following TEA guidelines and requirements for the new school year and expects to have the requirements in place before Aug. 15, he said in a statement after the district asked questions be sent in writing.

“We know that school safety is the most important thing for parents, students and staff members,” Stevens said. “We also know that threats are real, and so is our commitment to keeping everyone safe.”

The district plans to launch a school safety website. Stevens also encouraged people to immediately report threats against a school seen on social media.

“We want parents and students to know that we work in lockstep with Arlington Police Department,” Stevens said. “We never want an emergency to occur at one of our campuses, but if it does, we have a well-trained and dedicated local police department to respond.”

Students return to school on Aug. 15.

Hurst-Euless-Bedford

A spokesperson for the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district said “school security has been and continues to be on the minds of school leadership.”

“Most recently, the Uvalde crisis has given us more reasons to continue to focus conversations entailing mitigating processes, steps, and resources to ensure we are providing the safest place for our students and staff,” said spokesperson Deanne Hullender in a statement. The district did not directly answer questions sent by the Star-Telegram after declining an interview.

Hullender said the district hired a safety and security coordinator who started July 11. The district is working to finish the audits mandated by the state while also regularly connecting with police departments in Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Fort Worth, and Arlington, she said. She said the district uses the “latest technology and systems” to protect its 31 campuses and has school resource officers contracted through the Hurst, Euless and Bedford police departments.

“Because the details of our safety and security plan could be sensitive in nature, we hold this information close and protected due to the fact we don’t want our plans to fall in the wrong hands,” she said.

Students return to school on Aug. 10.

Birdville

The Birdville school district did not directly answer questions emailed by the Star-Telegram after declining an interview, but spokesperson Mark Thomas said in a statement that the district is working on an update for parents and staff for release before school starts.

“Without compromising our safety plan, the District wants to reassure the Birdville family that we take safety seriously,” Thomas said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to our students, staff, and parents to do all that we can to provide a safe environment.”

In a follow up email he said the district does have a police department and works with city police departments in Haltom City, Richland Hills, Watauga, North Richland Hills and Hurst.

Students return to school on Aug. 17.

Eagle-Mountain Saginaw

In a statement, district spokesperson Megan Overman said the district plans to share additional details with staff and parents before the first day of school.

“In the meantime, school security has been, and continues to be, on the minds of school leadership,” Overman said. “In Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, we understand that safety must be embedded in all that we do. Across EMS ISD, we have 32 campuses and facilities to protect each day and we do so with technology, systems, protocols and effective strategies, while collaborating with our local law enforcement in the cities of Fort Worth and Saginaw as well as Tarrant County.”

In May, Charles Ramirez was sworn in as chief of the district’s new police department, which will be ready for operation in the fall. He previously worked as director of safety and security for the district and before that was an assistant chief of the Fort Worth Police Department.

In a statement responding to written questions, Ramirez said much has been learned from the tragedy in Uvalde. The district has taken a “a comprehensive look at our policies and procedures and made several enhancements to all systems that support safety and security in and around our schools and facilities.”

The district holds regular drills and officers will be trained for active shooter situations. All of the district’s employees will participate in an active shooter training before school starts, Ramirez said. He added that all schools have systems to notify the entire school of a lockdown. The district also uses a mobile-app based notification system, he said.

The district has received grants to fund cameras, fences, door locks and controlled access points.

“While we do not believe it is in the best interest of the safety of our students and staff to share detailed specifics about our district safety plan, we continue to build a system of multi-layered lines of defense both inside and outside of our school buildings with the goal of making our schools even safer for our students, staff and families,” Ramirez said.

Students return to school on Aug. 15.

Grapevine-Colleyville

The Grapevine-Colleyville school district said changes have not been made since the past school year, but that safety practices are already in place that continued to be stressed. The district declined an interview, but responded to questions sent by email.

The district’s safety measures include district and campus level emergency operation plans and teams. Drills are performed by campuses during the first two weeks of school and throughout the year.

The district uses an access management system to keep doors locked and an alert system notifies employees if doors are held open for an extended period. First responders can access buildings with badges and keys. Buildings also have cameras. Campuses have a single point of entry for visitors and a visitor management system. Secondary school students wear ID badges on campus.

There are also safety measures established for buses and bus drivers, according to the district.

The district has school resource officers at all secondary schools who are employed by the Grapevine, Colleyville, and Euless police departments. The district also has a director of emergency management and school security who works with the officers and local law enforcement to determine emergency response.

The district encourages students, parents and staff to report anything they see that’s of concern and has programs and processes in place to address mental health.

“We value our partnerships with families, employees, and first responders, and will continue to build relationships and work together to make sure that our buildings are secure by not propping open doors or allowing unauthorized people into our buildings, and always reporting any broken or malfunctioning locks immediately,” the district said in a statement.

Students return to school on Aug. 17.