CK(LEGAL) - SAFETY PROGRAM/RISK MANAGEMENT

Safety and Security Committee

Responsibilities

In accordance with guidelines established by the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC), each district shall establish a school safety and security committee. The committee shall:

  1. Participate on behalf of the district in developing and implementing emergency plans consistent with the district multihazard emergency operations plan to ensure that the plans reflect specific campus, facility, or support services needs;
  2. Periodically provide recommendations to the board and district administrators regarding updating the district multihazard emergency operations plan [see CKC] in accordance with best practices identified by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the TxSSC, or a person included in the registry of persons providing school safety or security consulting services established by the TxSSC;
  3. Provide the district with any campus, facility, or support services information required in connection with a safety and security audit, a safety and security audit report, or another report required to be submitted by the district to the TxSSC;
  4. Review each report required to be submitted by the district to the TxSSC to ensure that the report contains accurate and complete information regarding each campus, facility, or support service in accordance with criteria established by the center; and
  5. Consult with local law enforcement agencies on methods to increase law enforcement presence near district campuses.

Membership

The committee, to the greatest extent practicable, must include:

  1. One or more representatives of an office of emergency management of a county or city in which the district is located;
  2. One or more representatives of the local police department or sheriff's office;
  3. One or more representatives of the district's police department, if applicable;
  4. The president of the board;
  5. A member of the board other than the president;
  6. The superintendent;
  7. One or more designees of the superintendent, one of whom must be a classroom teacher in the district;
  8. If the district partners with an open-enrollment charter school to provide instruction to students, a member of the open-enrollment charter school's governing body or a designee of the governing body; and
  9. Two parents or guardians of students enrolled in the district.

Meetings

Except as otherwise provided for year-round schools, the committee shall meet at least once during each academic semester and at least once during the summer. A committee established by a district that operates schools on a year-round system or in accordance with another alternative schedule shall meet at least three times during each calendar year, with an interval of at least two months between each meeting.

The committee is subject to the Open Meetings Act (Government Code Chapter 551), and may meet in executive session as provided by that chapter. Notice of a committee meeting must be posted in the same manner as notice of a board meeting. [See BE]

Education Code 37.109

Safety and Security Audit

At least once every three years, each district shall conduct a safety and security audit of the district's facilities. To the extent possible, a district shall follow safety and security audit procedures developed by the TxSSC or a person included in the registry of persons providing school safety or security consulting services established by TxSSC.

In a district's safety and security audit, the district must certify that the district used the funds provided through the school safety allotment only for the purposes provided by Education Code 42.168.

A district shall report the results of the safety and security audit to the board and, in the manner required by the TxSSC, to the TxSSC. The report provided to the TxSSC must be signed by the board and the superintendent.

Education Code 37.108(b), (b-1), (c)

In addition to a review of a district's multihazard emergency operations plan under Education Code 37.2071 [see CKC], the TxSSC may require a district to submit its plan for immediate review if the district's audit results indicate that the district is not complying with applicable standards. Education Code 37.207(c)

Failure to Report Audit Results

If a district fails to report the results of its audit, the TxSSC shall provide the district with written notice that the district has failed to report its audit results and must immediately report the results to the center.

If six months after the date of the initial notification the district has still not reported the results of its audit to the TxSSC, the TxSSC shall notify TEA and the district of the district's requirement to conduct a public hearing under Education Code 37.1081. [See CKC]

Education Code 37.207(d)–(e)

Disclosure

Except as provided by Education Code 37.108(c-2) [see CKC], any document or information collected, developed, or produced during a safety and security audit is not subject to disclosure under Government Code Chapter 552. Education Code 37.108(c-1)

Agreements

Each district that enters into a memorandum of understanding or mutual aid agreement addressing issues that affect school safety and security shall, at the TxSSC's request, provide the following information to the TxSSC:

  1. The name of each entity with which the district has entered into a memorandum of understanding or mutual aid agreement;
  2. The effective date of each memorandum or agreement; and
  3. A summary of each memorandum or agreement.

Education Code 37.2121

Rice CISD

CK(LEGAL)-P

UPDATE 114

DATE ISSUED: 10/17/2019