School Safety and Security Audits: What Does the Law Require Presented by Catherine Toohey and John

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School Safety and Security AuditsWhat Does the
Law Require?Presented byCatherine Toohey and
John Bremer
and
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What is the districts responsibility to be in
compliance with TEC 37.108 (SB 11)

• The district is responsible for the
  implementation of a security audit as required by
  Subsection (b).
• At least once every three years, a school
  district shall conduct a security audit of the
  district's facilities. To the extent possible, a
  district shall follow security audit procedures
  developed by the Texas School Safety Center or a
  comparable public or private entity.
• A school district shall report the results of the
  security audit conducted under Subsection (b) to
  the district's board of trustees.

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The Texas School Safety Center

•  The Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) was
  created in 1999 by then Governor George Bush and
  authorized by the 77th Texas Legislature in 2001
  to serve as a central location in Texas for
  school safety information, and to provide schools
  with information including research, training,
  and technical assistance to reduce youth violence
  and promote safety in the State.

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What does the Texas School Safety Center do?

• 37.207. MODEL SAFETY AND SECURITY AUDIT
  PROCEDURE. The center shall develop a model
  safety and security audit procedure for use by
  school districts that includes (1) providing
  each district with guidelines showing proper
  audit procedures (2) reviewing each district
  audit, providing the results of the review to the
  district, and making recommendations for
  improvements based on the audit and (3)
  incorporating the findings of district audits in
  a statewide report on school safety made
  available by the center to the public. Added by
  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 923, 1, eff. Sept. 1,
  2001.

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THE TEXAS HOMELAND SECURITY STRATEGIC PLAN
2005-2010

• 4. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.4
• ENHANCE THE SAFETY OF SCHOOLS IN TEXAS.
• The Texas School Safety Center will
• 2.4.1. Provide schools with a web-based tool to
  conduct vulnerability self-assessments and meet
  security audit requirements.
• 2.4.2. Provide schools with a web-based
  emergency operations planning tool to develop
  school safety and emergency response plans.
• 2.4.3. Develop a train-the-trainer program to
  educate school officials on homeland
  security-related school safety.
• 2.4.4. Ensure schools participate in drills and
  all-hazards exercises.

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What does the Center for Safe and Secure Schools
do?

• The Center provides services to school districts
  in the Houston area as the districts liaison to
  emergency management agencies and specifically in
  coordinating hurricane evacuation and refuge
  operations. The Center provides training in
  safety, security and emergency management
  targeted to the school administrator, both
  central office and campus based. The Center will
  provide audits, staff training, table top and
  functional exercises and consulting on specific
  needs to school districts or ESCs.

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What the Center for Safe and Secure Schools Brings

• The Center for Safe and Secure Schools develops
  consensus standards based on advice from school
  districts federal, state, and local law
  enforcement and emergency response agencies
  non-governmental agencies universities and
  medical schools industry and business.
• Since 1999 the Center has done in safety and
  security reviews in the largest to some of the
  smallest school districts in Texas as well as in
  private schools. The Center currently has
  projects in seven educational service centers and
  over twenty school districts.

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Purpose of a Safety and Security Audit

• The purpose of the audit is to work with
  schools to identify safety and security
  practices, policies and needs on a campus and to
  make recommendations to help the school create
  the safest environment possible for students.

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Components of the Audit Process

• Safety and Security of Site and Building Exterior
• Access Control
• Safety and Security of Building Interior
• Type and Extent of Monitoring and Surveillance
• Development and Enforcement of Policies
• Development of Intervention and Prevention Plans
• Level of Staff Development
• Opportunities for Student Involvement
• Level of Parent and Community Involvement
• Role of Law Enforcement
• Crisis Communication
• Development of Emergency Operations Plans
• School Climate and Culture

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Access Control

• Intruder Evaluation
• Non-scheduled
• Document date and time
• Were exterior doors locked?
• Was main entrance monitored by staff?
• Are visitors asked for photo ID?
• Did staff or students confront the intruder?
• Were all students supervised by staff?

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Access Control
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On-Site Visit

• Scheduled visit to gather data
• Begins with entrance conference
• During the visit, team members should follow
  checklists to ensure that all components of the
  audit are addressed.

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Entrance Conference

• The audit team should meet with staff that
  represent a cross-section of school personnel.
  This group might include
• An administrator
• A teacher
• A school law enforcement officer
• A food service or custodial staff member
• Any other members the campus selects

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Surveys or Interviews

• Surveys or interviews may be utilized to gather
  data about real (and perceived) school safety
  concerns from all stakeholders
• Students
• Parents
• Teachers and staff
• Community

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Assessment of School and Neighborhood Risk Factors

• Vandalism
• High Student Mobility
• Graffiti
• Gang Activity
• Crime
• Poverty
• Adjudicated students

• Trespassing
• Withdrawal of students (safety)
• Child abuse (home)
• Effective student-staff relationships
• High expectations for student learning

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ATF Video from Bomb Threat CD
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Walk-through of Site

• Grounds and Building Exterior
• Buses and Parking
• Play/Outdoor Recreation Areas
• BUILDING ACCESS

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Walk-through of Building

• Visibility
• Adequate lighting
• Ability to monitor students
• Access to classrooms controlled
• Access to hazards controlled
• Building in good repair

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School Climate and Culture

• Look for clues in signage
• Converse with staff and students if possible
• listen carefully
• What types of student programs or activities are
  there?
• anger management
• peer mediation
• service learning
• mentoring, etc

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Student Belonging

• Access to all programs and services by all
  students (low-achieving, disabled, minority)
• School spirit or pride
• Ownership of school by students and staff
• No one predominate social group
• Tolerance is emphasized or taught

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School Climate

• Do teachers and students have a positive rapport?
• Do all staff feel responsible for all students?
• Are staff visible in halls during transitions?
• Are students monitored to prevent violence and
  bullying?

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Do staff know how to spot trouble and how to
respond?
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Emergency Operations Plan

• Should be
• Developed by the building safety team
• Law Enforcement should be part of this team
• Reviewed on an annual basis
• Have a well-coordinated safety plan with MOUs
  with law enforcement and other emergency response
  agencies
• Include detailed maps of facility

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Evacuation Map
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Detailed Map for EOP
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Emergency Operations Plan

• Safety Drills are in place and practiced
  regularly
• After-Action Reviews are held after drills,
  exercises, and actual emergencies.
• All staff are trained in the implementation of
  the EOP.

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Mandatory Drills

• Drills should be named and announced using plain
  language instead of code words in accordance with
  Incident Command Systems and NIMS
• NO MORE CODES!
• Drill should be taught to students before they
  are practiced including an explanation of why
  they are important

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Why no more codes?

• SOPHOMORE ZACK BARNES, 16, SAID HIS FIRST
  INDICATION THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG AT HIS
  SCHOOL WAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT OVER THE PUBLIC
  ADDRESS SYSTEM.
• "WE WERE SITTING THERE IN MATH CLASS AND
  OVER THE INTERCOM THEY SAID 'STUDENTS AND
  TEACHERS WE HAVE A CODE WHITE. REPEAT, CODE
  WHITE. 'AND NOBODY REALLY KNEW WHAT A CODE WHITE
  WAS,
• HE SAID HIS TEACHER CHECKED A SHEET OF PAPER
  FROM HER DESK AND THEN SAID THE CLASS HAD TO
  MOVE.

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Recommended Drills

• Evacuation (proposed minimum)
• Building (one each month)
• Site
• Lock-down (three each year)
• Shelter-in-place
• Drop and cover (one each year)
• Reverse evacuation

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Incident Command System

• Standard, on-scene, all-hazard incident
  management system based on best practices
• Integrated management structure
• Features
• Common terminology
• Organizational resources
• Manageable span of control
• Organizational facilities
• Position titles
• Incident Action Plan
• Integrated communications
• Accountability

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Review of Documents

• Visitor Procedures
• Visitor policy/procedure signs are posted and
  visible at all entrance doors.
• Access is limited to one main entry if possible.
• Visitors are required to sign in and show valid
  ID.
• Visitors are required to wear visible, dated
  identification.

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Review of Documents

• Emergency Communication Plan
• Contact numbers for staff (home and cell)
• Updated regularly
• Student Code of Conduct
• Clear expectations
• Consistent consequences
• Taught to students

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Review of Documents

• Discipline Data
• of violent incidents
• of expulsions or removals
• Consistent consequences for offenses
• Do these indicate a safety need on the campus?

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What next?

• Principal will use results of audit to create an
  action-plan for addressing items of concern
• Action plan will address short-term plans for
  items that can be addressed through updated
  policy, practice or maintenance as well as items
  that require long-term planning

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Results

• Results reported to
• School board
• Possibly to Texas School Safety Center
• State Report on School Safety

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Deadline

• All districts must have their first round of
  audits completed by August 31st, 2008

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Resources

• Texas School Safety Center Texas State
  University- San Marcos
• Phone [phone] Toll-free [phone]
• www.cscs.txstate.edu/txssc.htm
• Curtis Clay, Director cc36_at_txstate.edu
• Catherine Toohey, ct21_at_txstate.edu
• Center for Safe and Secure Schools
• Harris County Department of Education Houston
• Phone [phone] Toll-free (866)
  713-2343
• www.safeandsecureschools.org/
• Karl Boland, Director kboland_at_hcde-texas.org
• John Bremer jbremer_at_hcde-texas.org

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Questions?