Virtual town hall held to discuss school safety measures around state of Texas

SAN ANTONIO – In the wake of the mass capturing at Robb Elementary in Uvalde that killed 19 college students and two academics, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is directing the Texas School Safety Center to assessment safety in colleges.

On Thursday, the TxSSC hosted a digital school safety town hall, hosted by Texas State Rep. Ray Lopez.

Dr. Kathy Martinez-Prather, director of TxSSC, within the town hall mentioned what Abbott’s directive entails and the work the group has been doing since 1999 to improve each safety and safety.

In a letter despatched to Dr. Martinez-Prather on June 1, Gov. Abbott instructed that TxSSC guarantee all school districts’ school safety and safety committees meet forward of the brand new school year to assessment their Emergency Operations Plan and handle any campus safety wants. Abbott additionally stated TxSSC ought to guarantee every school behavioral menace evaluation staff is skilled and reviewed on procedures for every campus, whereas guaranteeing all workers and substitutes are skilled on their particular district and campus safety procedures.

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TxSSC has been instructed to present a progress report of findings to the governor’s office and the legislature by Oct. 1.

“I am charging the TxSSC, in coordination with the TEA, to develop and implement a plan to conduct random inspections to assess access control measures of Texas school districts,” the letter states.

Abbott stated amongst different evaluations, groups ought to start conducting in-person, unannounced, random intruder detection audits on school districts.

Martinez-Prather stated throughout the town hall quite a bit of the time somebody is aware of that one thing may occur beforehand, giving authorities a chance to act.

The town hall mentioned how psychological well being is dealt with in colleges, and the way totally different safety measures are being carried out around the state.