2008 District Needs Assessment

The Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) is conducting our annual training needs assessment survey. We are requesting your participation in this survey about school safety training needs for your district. Your input will guide our development of trainings and resources for school districts throughout the state of Texas. Please take the time to complete the Training Needs Assessment Survey.

District Audit Report

COMPLETED YOUR DISTRICT SAFETY AND SECURITY AUDITS?
WHAT NEXT?

The Texas Education code has been amended to require school districts to report the results of their security audits under 37.108b not only to their school board, but also to the Texas School Safety Center in the manner required by the center:

               37.108(c), Education Code, to require a school district to report the results of security
               audits to the Texas School Safety Center in addition to the district’s board of trustees.
               (Sections 3.02 and 3.04 of SB 11- 80r.)

Please DO NOT send your audit reports directly to the Texas School Safety Center.  Audit results should be held as confidentially as possible.  The TxSSC will contact each district in July with instructions on how to access an ON-LINE system (DARtool) to report CERTAIN results.  These results comprise the District Audit Report (DAR).  A draft copy of the DAR questions may be found below.  The DARtool will remain open from mid-July until September 30, 2008 to report the audit results.  At that time, the TxSSC will begin the process of preparing a state report from the information submitted by Texas school districts.

TEC 37.108 does not address specifically how this information is to be presented to the district’s board of trustees or in what time frame.  Audits must be completed by August 31, 2008.  The results of the district’s audits must be transmitted using the ON-LINE DARtool to the TxSSC from mid-July 2008, until September 30, 2008, after which time the TxSSC will begin preparing the DAR for the State of Texas. 

The District Audit Report Questionnaire provides the specific questions that will be given on the District Audit Reporting Tool.  The Glossary provides definitions for any potentially confusing terms stated within the questions.

School Safety and Security Audits

Txssc has designed a two-day training course for district teams that will enable them to perform comprehensive campus safety and security audits. This training will focus on all parts of the School Safety and Security Audit Toolkit , as well as best practices in emergency management and school safety. Training will include a walk-through exercise at two campuses in a district. Training participants will then have the skills, knowledge, and materials necessary to perform school safety and security audits at additional campuses.  Most of these trainings will be provided through the Regional Education Service Centers, but may be provided through districts as well. 

For upcoming audit trainings, please visit the TxSSC training calendar.
To receive technical assistance, please send an email to cscs@txstate.edu.

Campus Safety and Security Audit Toolkit

The Campus Safety and Security Audit Toolkit, available for download below, contains step-by-step instructions and recommendations for conducting school safety and security audits, as well as a comprehensive Audit Checklist. The toolkit underwent a revision in January, 2008 to make it more user-friendly. The Intruder Assessment has been added as part of the toolkit.
You will need a current copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.

Campus Safety and Security Audit Toolkit

We have also created several additional data collection tools to help with your safety and security audit process. These tools are optional way that you may collect data about the perceived safety of your school. Please click on a tool below to view:
You will need a current copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files.

Surveys

• Teacher/Staff
• Student (English) (Spanish)
• Elementary Student
• Parent (English) (Spanish)

Intruder Assessment

• Intruder Assessment

Interviews

• Office Staff
• Nurse
• Counselor
• Staff
• Teacher

Report Templates

• Safety & Security Audit Report Template

We hope that these tools will help to make the audit process straight-forward and less time-consuming. If you have any questions about this toolkit, please send an email to cscs@txstate.edu.

School Safety Audit Reporting

The Texas Education code has been amended to require school districts to report the results of their security audits under 37.108b not only to their school board, but also to the Texas School Safety Center in the manner required by the center:

         37.108(c), Education Code, to require a school district to report the results of security audits          to the Texas School Safety Center in addition to the district’s board of trustees. (Sections 3.02          and 3.04 of SB 11- 80r.)

The Texas School Safety Center is in the process of setting up an online system to collect the results of security audits. This system will not be ready until sometime in 2008.
We want to assure school districts that the current School Safety Audit Toolbox contained on our website covers all elements that will be included in the online audit collection system. The district should complete the audit and save the data to be entered later when the system is completed. We will announce on our website and via email when the collection system becomes available.

Senate Bill 9 (80R)

SECTION 24. Subsection (a), Section 552.116, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) An audit working paper of an audit of the state auditor or the auditor of a state agency, an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, a county, a municipality, a school district, or a joint board operating under Section 22.074, Transportation Code, including any audit relating to the criminal history background check of a public school employee, is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021. If information in an audit working paper is also maintained in another record, that other record is not excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 by this section.

SB11 80R

SECTION 3.07. Section 551.076, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 551.076. DELIBERATION REGARDING SECURITY DEVICES OR SECURITY AUDITS; CLOSED MEETING. This chapter does not require a governmental body to conduct an open meeting to deliberate:

(1) the deployment, or specific occasions for implementation, of security personnel or devices or
(2) a security audit

TSA Provides Free Training Program for Districts on Transportation Safety

This training program is designed to make key personnel within the American educational infrastructure aware of the security vulnerabilities inherent in the transportation of schoolchildren and provide an action plan which will prevent or minimize casualties.

http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/tsnm/highway/stsa.shtm

Playground Safety Resources

http://www.kidchecker.org/files/pgcheck.pdf