Title IV, Part A School Safety News

ESC 9 Update

DAR submissions are nearing completion. I still need assistance from a few more schools to complete the 2017-2020 cycle so I will be contacting some of you for follow up questions.

Here are a couple of Title 4, Part A resources that may be useful for your district:

Ten Essential Actions to Improve School Safety

https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/Publications/cops-w0891-pub.pdf

T4PA Center Technical Assistance on Support Connectivity for Rural Students

https://t4pacenter.ed.gov/docs/T4PASMHResourceGuide3_508C.pdf

I have also been asked about the requirements and recommendations for School Safety and Security Committees. Here is information from TASB:

https://www.tasb.org/services/legal-services/tasb-school-law-esource/business/documents/school-safety-and-security-committees.aspx

TxSSC EOP Submission Comment Report Guidance

Districts have received their EOP comment report from TxSSC. Only certain items require immediate action and re-submittal. Based on the comment report sections below, you must resubmit if you received NO/INSUFFICIENT in any of the three following areas:

For EOP Exists, the Review Determination is NO.
For Continuity Of Operations Plan (COOP), the Review Determination is NO or INSUFFICIENT.
For Communicable Disease Annex, the Review Determination is NO or INSUFFICIENT.

For these three items, please update your district plan according to the comments made in those sections and resubmit the updated versions of these documents by October 16, 2020, at the re-submittal form link below:

https://forms.txssc.txstate.edu/readiness-eop/isd-more-info

A special thank you to Dwain Milam and Curtis Eldridge for hosting EOP resubmission work sessions.

Updated—Required Drills for Schools and COVID-19 Considerations

The Texas School Safety Center has published new drill guidance documents. This one-pager contains the information from TxSSC and links to the law, the drills toolkit, COVID considerations, and more.

TxSSC virtual training opportunities

There are sessions available including the following:

School Behavioral Threat Assessment (REQUIRED for ALL team members)

Standard Response Protocol/Standard Reunification Method

Digital Threat Assessment

Sandy Hook Say Something

School Based Law Enforcement (TCOLE)

Click here: https://txssc.txstate.edu/events/

TEA TAA Senate Bill 11 Data Requirement and Safe and Supportive Schools Program (SSSP)

An updated TAA concerning Senate Bill 11 was released on September 17, containing information regarding SSSP Teams and reporting requirements for the '19-'20 school year. This also included Stop the Bleed COVID training guidance, updated drill guidance from TEA and TxSSC, and updated mental health resources.