Safety Planning at Dickinson ISD

Safety Planning A continuous process at Dickinson ISD

2017-2018 SAFETY UPDATES The 2017 DISD Safety Committee met 3 times this past year to review and update plans and responses. The Superintendent s Cabinet also discussed plans and responses throughout the year. Campuses have an emergency plan specifically developed and unique for each campus. January 25, 2018 - The Galveston County Sheriff s Office updated training for all district administrators in our Active Shooter response. As a result, our Active Shooter response was updated to reflect current first responder practices. March 6, 2018 Peer to Peer Network Responding to Crisis May 2, 2018 U.S. Secret Service training (Dealing with threats) All teachers have an Emergency Procedures Guide flip card that addresses Lockdown, Evacuation, Shelter In Place, Severe Weather, Bomb Threat, Protect Mode, Unidentified Person On Campus, Explosion, and Medical Emergency procedures.

2018 SUMMER SAFETY TRAININGS AND MEETINGS DISD attended these safety related trainings in June: Harris County Department of Education School Safety Institute Region 4 School Safety Summit ALERRT Safety Training TASA School Safety Summer Conference Social Media Monitoring For School Safety Restorative Practices Training Consortium of Galveston County Mental Health Providers Galveston County Sheriff s Department Annual Review DISD has these safety related trainings in July: School Threat Assessment Workshop ALERRT Trainer of Trainers Project 528 An Education and Faith-Based Initiative CCISD and surrounding ISDs

MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION AND SAFETY PLANNING Governor Abbot provided a School and Firearm Safety Action Plan to provide guidance for better protecting our students and teachers. The common themes of the roundtable discussions to develop this plan were: Making Schools Safer Places Identifying Threats in Advance and Resolving Them Improving Mental Health Assessments and Services This presentation will follow the outline for his recommendations.

INCREASE LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE AT SCHOOLS Current staffing was reviewed with Galveston County Sheriff s Department, and we have recommended budgeting for an additional officer for the 2018-19 school year. An additional officer for the 2019-20 school year will be recommended when the Ninth Grade Center opens at DHS. All law enforcement officers are welcome at DISD schools. Dickinson PD, Texas City PD, League City PD, Constables, and GCSO all provided extra support at campuses to end the last school year. We will work with the departments to encourage their continued support at our campuses within their various jurisdictions.

MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER SCHOOL MARSHAL PROGRAM Informational training for the School Marshal Program was attended. This program is primarily used by rural district with very long response times for law enforcement due to remote locations. I recommend parent and local law enforcement input before we consider this option. (DISD Safety and Security Committee)

MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER ACTIVE SHOOTER AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE We are adopting the Standard Response Protocol K12-T and Standard Reunification Method developed by the I Love U Guys Foundation as recommended by the Governor. Administrators will be provided training materials for their campus and trained in the standard response. Campus Emergency Guides will be updated to include the new information. DISD will provide updated training on campus, provide posters/materials for campus classrooms, and provide information for parents. All of our School Liaison Officers have been ALERRT (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) certified. Sgt. Foster is in the process of becoming an ALERRT trainer of trainers.

This is a copy of the Student Parent Handout for the i love you guys Standard Response Protocol (SRP). Copies will be placed in all classrooms and available on our district website. All DISD students and employees will be trained in this protocol.

MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER HARDENING OF CAMPUS FACILITIES Most campuses have been built with entrances that can be restricted during the school day. Usually only 2 monitored entrances are open for car riders, walkers, and bus riders in the morning and afternoon. All schools have security vestibules at the main entrance as recommended. All entrances to building are monitored and recorded by cameras. Our newer campuses have (ID card access)? Everyone is expected to monitor the hallways during passing periods. Front offices are located at the entrance as recommended. CCTV cameras are on all our campuses with a total of 1,733 camera lenses (some cameras have multiple lenses that go in different directions) All Campus classrooms have phones as recommended. All visitors must use the campus main entrance, and all visitors will be screened using the Raptor System before leaving the front office to enter the building.

MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER HARDENING OF CAMPUS FACILITIES Attend more training provided by Michael Dorn, Executive Director of Safe Havens International, who is a recognized leader in school safety to increase the physical security of our campuses. Discussions with Ryan Boone, Deputy Superintendent, to address concerns identified by principals and our Safety Audit regarding access including retrofit for older buildings. We need further input from our District and Parent Committee for Safety regarding further recommendations such as metal detectors, fencing, etc. The new DISD Safety Committee will also discuss safety of extra-curricular events.

MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER STRENGTHEN EXISTING CAMPUS SECURITY PROGRAMS We perform our school audits according to the three year cycle, and we are in compliance with audit requirements. Our Safety Committee has previously consisted of district employees, but we are expanding the committee to include those recommended by the Governor (with additional parent membership). The School Safety Committee will meet a minimum of three times a year, make recommendations to the board, provide updates to the board, and ensure that incidents of significant threat are reported to the board and parents. As we begin with the new School Safety Committee, meetings will likely be held more frequently.

IDENTIFYING THREATS IN ADVANCE PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH The Governor hopes to expand the Texas Tech Health Center s Telemedicine Wellness Intervention Triage & Referral Project. We can t afford to wait so we developed our own Mental First Aid . DISD has MOUs with Resolve It to provide counseling for our students who are victims or witness violence at home. DISD recently hosted a foundational meeting of the DISD & Community Trauma Informed Care and Crisis Response Team with DISD personnel and local community agencies that provide mental health services to better prepare ourselves to service our students mental health needs. We supported a UH-CL application for a grant to help provide mental health first aid trauma intervention for district employees. We have 2 social workers on staff that provide support for those in need.

IDENTIFYING THREATS IN ADVANCE BEHAVIORAL THREAT ASSESSMENTS Carla Voelkel and Robert Cobb are attending SIGMA Threat Management Training at Region 4 on July 20, 2018. We will bring information back and provide to campuses. We currently use an expanded RTI (Response To Intervention) process to triage and track behavioral concerns. We still need to formalize the process and ensure timely communication between teachers, counselors, and administrators. Our Liaison Deputies are also onsite and available for interventions regarding seriously concerning behavior.

IDENTIFYING THREATS IN ADVANCE BETTER UTILIZE AND EXPAND ON-CAMPUS RESOURCES Carla Voelkel is reviewing counselor duties in an attempt to allow them to focus more on direct counseling with students. Communities in Schools (CIS) provides 8 case managers to provide additional support to at risk students. Each case manager supports at least 90 students. We have not differentiated between academic and behavioral counselors on campus to this point in time. However, we do have Licensed School Psychologists (LSSPs) that provide counseling with parent consent for identified Special Needs Students.

IDENTIFYING THREATS IN ADVANCE EXPAND CRIME STOPPERS PROGRAMS We currently use Crime Stoppers in our schools, and we look forward to utilizing the expanded program. We need to make the Crime Stoppers information more prominent on our web page. This will be completed when we develop our new School Safety tab on our website. We will send people to be trained on how to run and implement the Safe School program when it is available.

IDENTIFYING THREATS IN ADVANCE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO PREVENT ATTACKS Governor Abbot recommends the DPS iWatch Texas App. We will investigate and make the download link available on our website. We will also research other apps that will allow reporting concerning behavior. DISD has contracted with Social Sentinel to provide social media monitoring for the next 3 years. They will monitor our area s social media for threats, suicide ideation, and bullying. It will notify specific DISD personnel when this information is identified. We have also contracted with gaggle to monitor all student google drives and email. This service provides reports of inappropriate items including threats, suicide ideation, and bullying. It will also notify district personnel and law enforcement to investigate.

IDENTIFYING THREATS IN ADVANCE REMOVE FROM THE CLASSROOM STUDENTS WHO THREATEN TEACHERS DISD GCSO Liaison Officers are on campus to investigate criminal violations including threats and assaults. The Dickinson Alternative Learning Center (DALC) is a disciplinary alternative campus located away from other DISD campuses for students who commit severe code of conduct violations including threats and assaults. The Coastal Alternative Program (CAP) is another alternative campus who have discretionary expulsions for their campus. The Esmond Center (JJAEP) is available for mandatory expulsions for Galveston County Schools. DISD supports the legislature adding stalking, cruelty to animals, any felony weapon charge, and any organized crime offense to the list that mandates removal to DALC, CAP, or Esmond Center.

IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH AND SERVICES USE OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN DAEP DISD is moving forward with Restorative Discipline for the 2018-19 school year in all schools not just our DAEP. Restorative practices are based on rehabilitation of behavior rather than just punishment. Restorative practices focus on de-escalation of situations and getting students to understand their actions affect not only themselves but others. The purpose is to develop a sense of community within the classroom and on campus. Restorative discipline does not override the code of conduct, and students will still have consequences for violating the code of conduct.

OBSERVATIONS DISD has SAFE campuses, and we have always gone beyond what the state requires regarding safety because Gator Nation has never settled for average. We live in a different world now, and safety is a concern wherever you go today movie theater, grocery store, and even church. It is going to take our entire educational community to address the societal issues that always end up being the school s responsibility to fix. The Gator Way has always been to work together, and we will continue working to make our schools even safer.

CONCLUSIONS DISD will be more vigilant in training and monitoring safety procedures throughout the district We will focus on proactively dealing with violence and mental health utilizing restorative discipline, teaching students and adults to take responsibility for actions, understand that we are all connected in some way, and our hurtful actions harm others and not just ourselves. We will begin recruiting members for the School Safety Committee very soon, and our goal is to have this committee in place by September 1st. We also believe that DISD should not have to cut services, programs, or student activities in order to make our schools safer. We request parents get actively involved during the next legislative session to promote school safety and request adequate funding to all school districts.