TSPR Austin Independent School District

Chapter 12
SAFETY AND SECURITY

This chapter reviews the Austin Independent School District's (AISD) safety and security functions in three sections:

A. Discipline Management

B. Security

C. Safety

The safety of students and school employees is a major concern for all. Because of the priority placed on the safety and security of our children by parents, educators, taxpayers and the community, the 1995 Texas Legislature addressed school violence by establishing major safety and security-related revisions in the Texas Education Code.
Traditionally, most school safety actions involved surrounding schools with fences and creating alternative education programs. Recent events, like the 1999 tragedy in Littleton, Colorado, call for a more comprehensive approach involving awareness, prevention, intervention, and a recognition that school violence is a community problem requiring community involvement. To provide a safe and secure learning environment, safety and security programs must include elements of prevention, intervention, and enforcement, as well as cooperation with municipal and county governments. Discipline management and alternative education programs are key tools in this process.
BACKGROUND
The Texas Legislature has addressed aspects of school violence. Exhibit 12-1 summarizes major legislation related to school safety and security for the past four legislative sessions.
Exhibit 12-1
Major School Safety and Security Initiatives of the Texas Legislature
1993 - 1999

Legislation Summary

1993 Legislature

House Bill 23 Requires information-sharing between law enforcement and schools on student arrests for serious offenses; requires school principals to notify law enforcement if criminal activity occurs or is suspected of occurring on campus.

Senate Resolution 879 Encourages collaboration between the Texas Education Agency and Department of Public Safety in the recording of criminal incidents in the schools.

House Bills 633 and 634 Outlines the commissioning and jurisdiction of peace officers for school districts.

House Bill 2332 Authorizes the State Board of Education to establish special-purpose schools or districts for students whose needs are not met through regular schools.

Senate Bill 16 Defines drug-free zones for schools.

Senate Bill 213 Creates the safe schools checklist.

Senate Bill 155 Creates the Texas Youth Commission.

1995 Legislature

Senate Bill 1 Revamps the Education Code and laws on safety and security in schools, including the requirement for districts to establish alternative education programs and, in counties with populations above 125,000, to establish juvenile justice alternative education programs.

1997 Legislature

Senate Bill 133 Rewrites the safe schools provision of the Education Code.

1999 Legislature

Senate Bill 260 Allows the expulsion of a student who assaults a school district employee.

Senate Bill 1580 Creates the Texas Violent Gang Task Force.

Senate Bill 1724 Requires each school district to annually report (beginning with 1999-2000) the number, rate, and type of violent and criminal incidents occurring on each campus, and requires them to include a violence prevention and intervention component in their annual campus improvement plans.

Senate Bill 1784 Allows school districts to use private or public community-based dropout recovery education programs to provide alternative education programs.

House Bill 152 Raises to a state jail felony the act of placing graffiti on school property.

House Bill 1749 Encourages school districts and juvenile probation departments to share information on juvenile offenders.

Source: Compiled by TSPR, 1999.
TSPR's Keeping Texas Children Safe in School is based on the results of its numerous school performance reviews. TSPR has found that the most effective districts have a safety plan that includes prevention, intervention, and enforcement strategies. An effective program includes these steps:

Strategy Keeping Texas Children Safe in Schools

Prevention

Know your goals and objectives: where your district is going, and what you want to accomplish.

Establish clear expectations for students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Address warning signs before they turn into trouble.

Intervention

Look for trouble before it finds you.

Recognize trouble when you see it.

Have individuals in the right place and at the right time to intervene.

Have a plan of action appropriate for the occasion and practice it.

Enforcement

Leave no room for double standards.

Ensure that discipline management extends inside and outside the classroom.

Alternative programs are not just a matter of compliance with the law; they are many students' last chance at success.

The first three steps comprise an effective prevention strategy, the next four intervention, and the last three enforcement. Taken individually, the steps outlined in the law or those used by successful districts don't seem dramatic. But when districts apply these measures in a comprehensive system, they can and do get significant results.

Legislation	Summary
1993 Legislature
House Bill 23	Requires information-sharing between law enforcement and schools on student arrests for serious offenses; requires school principals to notify law enforcement if criminal activity occurs or is suspected of occurring on campus.
Senate Resolution 879	Encourages collaboration between the Texas Education Agency and Department of Public Safety in the recording of criminal incidents in the schools.
House Bills 633 and 634	Outlines the commissioning and jurisdiction of peace officers for school districts.
House Bill 2332	Authorizes the State Board of Education to establish special-purpose schools or districts for students whose needs are not met through regular schools.
Senate Bill 16	Defines drug-free zones for schools.
Senate Bill 213	Creates the safe schools checklist.
Senate Bill 155	Creates the Texas Youth Commission.
1995 Legislature
Senate Bill 1	Revamps the Education Code and laws on safety and security in schools, including the requirement for districts to establish alternative education programs and, in counties with populations above 125,000, to establish juvenile justice alternative education programs.
1997 Legislature
Senate Bill 133	Rewrites the safe schools provision of the Education Code.
1999 Legislature
Senate Bill 260	Allows the expulsion of a student who assaults a school district employee.
Senate Bill 1580	Creates the Texas Violent Gang Task Force.
Senate Bill 1724	Requires each school district to annually report (beginning with 1999-2000) the number, rate, and type of violent and criminal incidents occurring on each campus, and requires them to include a violence prevention and intervention component in their annual campus improvement plans.
Senate Bill 1784	Allows school districts to use private or public community-based dropout recovery education programs to provide alternative education programs.
House Bill 152	Raises to a state jail felony the act of placing graffiti on school property.
House Bill 1749	Encourages school districts and juvenile probation departments to share information on juvenile offenders.

Strategy	Keeping Texas Children Safe in Schools
Prevention	Know your goals and objectives: where your district is going, and what you want to accomplish.
	Establish clear expectations for students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
	Address warning signs before they turn into trouble.
Intervention	Look for trouble before it finds you.
	Recognize trouble when you see it.
	Have individuals in the right place and at the right time to intervene.
	Have a plan of action appropriate for the occasion and practice it.
Enforcement	Leave no room for double standards.
	Ensure that discipline management extends inside and outside the classroom.
	Alternative programs are not just a matter of compliance with the law; they are many students' last chance at success.