SAFETY AND SECURITY
This chapter reviews DISD's safety and security programs in four sections:
- A. Organization and Program Coordination
- B. Security and Enforcement
- C. Student Discipline and Alternative Education
- D. Safety and Prevention
The three basic building blocks of school safety and security are enforcement, intervention and prevention, as follows:
- Enforcement-school-based and patrol-oriented incident response and law enforcement services;
- Intervention-student discipline management and alternative education programs;
- Prevention-crisis and accident planning and prevention, emergency preparedness, alarm systems and facility and grounds safety.
BACKGROUND
The Texas Legislature has made school safety and security one of its top public policy priorities. The 1995 Legislature enacted rigorous new standards to improve the safety and security of public schools. The Texas Education Code was amended with the addition of safety and security provisions to establish the critical elements of an effective school safety and security program, including prevention, intervention, enforcement, interlocal cooperation, discipline management and alternative education.
The Legislature has continued to confront school safety and security issues. Exhibit 12-1 summarizes some other important school safety and security legislation enacted since 1997.
Exhibit 12-1 Source: TSPR, 1999.
Selected Legislative School Safety and Security Initiatives
1997 through 1999
Bill/Year Bill Summary SB 133 (1997) Revises safe schools provision of the Education Code. SB 260 (1999) Allows expulsion of student who assaults school district employee. SB 1580 (1999) Creates Texas Violent Gang Task Force. SB 1724 (1999) Requires districts to report annually on criminal incidents by type and campus, and allows them to incorporate a violence prevention and intervention component in their annual campus improvement plans. SB 1784 (1999) Allows districts to use private or public community-based alternative education programsthat are designed to help student dropouts complete their high school educations. HB 152 (1999) Raises to a state jail felony the act of placing graffiti on school property. HB 1749 (1999) Encourages school districts and juvenile probation departments to share information on juvenile offenders. Today, the Texas Education Code requires each school district to adopt a student code of conduct with clear student behavior standards and offense definitions. The code also calls for the gradation of discipline management techniques that correlate with the type or level of offense. For example, minor offenses may require student-teacher conferences or detention, while serious misconduct dictates removal from the regular classroom through suspension or placement in alternative educational programs.
The Education Code also requires that all districts establish an Alternative Education Program (AEP) and, in counties with more than 125,000 residents, a Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP) as well. The JJAEPs, which operate under the jurisdiction of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, are intended to ensure the education of incarcerated youths and those on probation. Finally, the code requires districts and law enforcement agencies to share student arrest or criminal conduct information.
Since the emphasis on school safety began, DISD has seen decreases in some crime categories and increases in others (Exhibit 12-2). From 1995-96 through 1999-2000, the number of aggravated assaults, drug-related offenses and gun seizures declined. Over the same time period, however, simple assaults, thefts and vandalism increased.
Exhibit 12-2 Source: DISD School Safety and Security Department.
DISD School Incident Trends
1995-96 through 1999-2000
Offense 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 Change 1995-2000 Assault 764 762 778 929 1,070 40% Assault - Aggravated 75 93 83 57 68 -9% Auto Theft/ Vandalism 191 224 273 228 222 16% Burglary/ Robbery 87 103 262 97 82 -6% Theft 291 263 566 615 615 111% VHSC/Drugs 396 250 316 314 275 -31% Illegal Weapons Seized - Guns 32 20 26 11 15 -53% According to the results of TSPR's stakeholder security survey, gangs, drugs and vandalism remain a serious concern for most DISD stakeholders (Exhibit 12-3).
Exhibit 12-3 Source: TSPR, November 2000.
Summary of Security Survey Results for DISD
Strongly Agreeing or Agreeing with the Statement
Statement Admin. Principals Teachers Students School disturbances are frequent. N/A 13% 38% 30% Gangs are a problem. 66% 59% 64% 37% Drugs are a problem. 72% 72% 67% 50% Vandalism is a problem. 80% 72% 80% 60% According to TSPR's survey, school employees generally view gangs, drugs and vandalism as more serious problems than do students. In contrast, students and teachers perceive disturbances such as assaults as more serious problems than do principals.
As illustrated by Exhibit 12-4, TSPR's stakeholder surveys also disclosed a strong divergence of DISD principal and student opinions of school safety and security. While 91 percent of principals believe that students feel safe and secure, only 48 percent of the students agree. Similarly, significantly fewer students agree that safety hazards do not exist on school grounds.
Exhibit 12-4 Source: TSPR, November 2000.
Summary of Security Survey Results for DISD
Strongly Agreeing or Agreeing with the Statement
Statement Admin. Principals Teachers Students Students feel safe and secure at school. N/A 91% N/A 48% Safety hazards do not exist on school grounds. N/A 57% 35% 25%
Note: N/A means the question was not asked.TSPR's 1992 study of DISD identified a number of measures for improving the district's safety and security practices. Some of those recommendations were as follows:
- install metal detectors and video surveillance systems in schools
- install monitoring devices in portable classroom buildings
- increase security staff for central control and dispatch operations
- increase focus on prevention and intervention activities
- increase collaboration with the juvenile justice system
- increase prevention and intervention collaboration with other school districts
- implement an automated at-risk student tracking system
- adopt standard at-risk student indicators for all programs
- perform annual districtwide evaluations of at-risk student programs
DISD implemented many of these recommendations. It acquired metal detectors, installed panic-button systems in some portable classrooms and approved four additional positions for central control and dispatch. It began crisis planning and dropout prevention initiatives, and created a juvenile justice liaison position.
DISD's campuses present many safety and security challenges. The district has 218 school facilities including 28 high schools, 28 middle schools, 154 primary schools and 11 multi-level schools that include alternative education programs and special education centers. In addition, the district owns or leases 51 other buildings. Many school buildings were designed and built before security emerged as a serious issue. In addition, DISD's enrollment growth during the late 1990s has forced administrators to install numerous portable classroom buildings.