School Safety Plan

Overview

• The safety of students and staff is our top priority in Dallas ISD.

• In May 2018, Dr. Hinojosa participated in the Governor’s Roundtable regarding School Safety.

• Common themes of all the discussions were:

• Making Schools Safer Places

• Identifying Threats in Advance and Resolving Them

• Improving Mental Health Assessments and Services

• On May 30, 2018, Dallas ISD hosted the Governor’s Press Conference where the School and Firearm Safety Plan was presented and distributed.

• In June, Dallas ISD leadership reviewed the recommendations and formulated plans for the upcoming school year.

• Action steps for the 2018-19 school year have been developed and are detailed in the following slides.

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Purpose

• To use the recommendations presented in the plan to be prepared in the event of a crisis

• Provide support to staff, students, and parents to be alert and vigilant at all times

• Understand the issues around violence and mental health

• Empower staff and students to seize the moment to become upstanders rather than bystanders

In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing…

the next best thing is the wrong thing…

and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

-Theodore Roosevelt

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District Addressed Recommendations

• Schools should collaborate with local law enforcement to heighten police presence on school campuses.

• Protect students and teachers by better preparing campus security to respond to active shooters.

• The Texas School Safety Center will deliver a workshop-based course that allows for hands-on application of high-quality planning practices.

• The Texas School Safety Center will partner with the I Love You Guys Foundation to provide training in the Standard Response Protocol and the Standard Reunification Method for school personnel.

• Improve the infrastructure and design of Texas schools to reduce security threats.

• TEA will work with school districts to prioritize $62.1 million in new federal funding toward immediate school safety improvements, including school hardening, increased law enforcement patrols, implementation of mental health programs, and other recommendations discussed in this plan.

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District Addressed Recommendations

• Specifically require certain members of the community to serve on an ISD or charter school’s safety and security committee.

• The School Safety and Security Committee should be required to discuss with local law enforcement the expansion of patrol zones to include the school district.

• The School Safety and Security Committee should hold meetings at least three times per year.

• The School Safety and Security Committee should periodically provide updates to the school board.

• Schools should be required to notify parents if a significant threat to student’s safety occurs.

• To enhance school safety and ensure additional behavioral health services are available to students on-campus, expand access to Texas Tech Health Sciences Center’s Telemedicine Wellness Intervention Triage & Referral (TWITR) Project.

• Increase Mental Health First Aid training during summer 2018 • The Texas School Safety Center will partner with SIGMA Threat

Management to deliver training on Behavioral Threat Assessment to school personnel.

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District Addressed Recommendations

• Expand Crime Stoppers operations and launch an awareness campaign for school employees and students to encourage the reporting of tips related to school crime.

• Increase the use and awareness of DPS’ “iWatch Texas” reporting system to enable and encourage parents, students, and teachers to easily report potential harm or criminal activity directed at school students, school employees, and schools.

• Increase the number of fusion centers in Texas to improve law enforcement’s ability to identify, process, and resolve potential threats that appear on social media.

• Protect school employees by implementing a zero-tolerance policy for students who commit assault.

• When a student is placed in a DAEP classroom, the school district should implement a cycle of restorative practices designed to address the underlying mental or behavioral health issues, including

screenings from the TWITR project or similar programs.

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Making Schools Safer Places

• Buzzer access controls and card access readers in all elementary schools

• Camera systems and Raptor visitor check in at all schools• Portable optical eye ports in all portable doors • Campus Emergency Operations Plan (CEOP) required and

supported by the Emergency Management Department at all campuses

• Identification of reunification sites (primary and alternative) • State of Texas requires 1 emergency drill per semester – Dallas

ISD requires 2 (100% compliance)• Lockdown drill required within the first 2 weeks of the fall

semester—focus on a building threat• Training packet provided for schools on School Safety

including materials from the I Love You Guys Foundation • Student Code of Conduct adherence to removal of students

assaulting personnel • School Safety and Security Committee establishment

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Making Schools Safer Places

Dallas ISD Police Department is one of the largest agencies in Texas

• 24/7 operations

• 116 sworn police officers; 73 non-sworn security personnel

• 72 of the sworn officers and 40 of security personnel are assigned to 59 secondary campuses

• Police officers conduct active shooter drills, annually

• Dallas ISD Police and the Dallas Police Department now have the ability to communicate directly through radios

• Continue to promote and expand the Crime Stoppers Program (over 200 tips)

• Promote awareness and use of the DPS “iWatch Texas” app reporting system

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Identifying Threats in Advance and Resolving Them

• Address construction projects to improve the infrastructure

and design of schools to reduce security threats. This

includes constructing vestibules when building or re-

constructing schools.

• Review of school buildings and discussions regarding

greater control of entrances, exits and external access

has occurred.

• Continue to collaborate with the Dallas Police Department

Fusion Center to receive information related to criminal

activity, threats, etc.

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Improving Mental Health Assessments and Services

• Finalizing partnership with the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority to provide a professional development session that will help non-clinicians (campus staff, central staff, etc.) develop the skills to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illness

• Preparing RFP for Tele-Psychiatry services to expand immediate services to identified students

• Reinforcing guidelines for addressing threats of harm to self and others

• Established list of behaviors requiring referrals for mental health services – training staff prior to start of school

• Students assigned to DAEP will participate in a cycle of restorative practices designed to address the underlying mental or behavioral health issues

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Moving Forward

• Provide a campus door identification system

• Ensure Power School has updated emergency response contact information for students and staff (including medical information, multiple emergency contacts, and sibling information)

• Conversations with the SIGMA Threat Management Team to deliver training on Behavioral Threat Assessment to school personnel

• Engage Teen Board

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Q & A

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