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JUDSON ISD SAFETY SPENDING
The Judson ISD board of trustees will consider a $218 million bond that focuses on school security and student safety to go on the ballot in November or May.
$55 MILLION 25.23% PROPOSITION C
PROPOSITION A $146.7 MILLION 67.29%
• upgrade existing camera systems • add cameras to nonsecure areas • upgrade network security • upgrade access control for entrances DEADLINES Aug. 22, 2022 is the last day to call for an election in November . Feb. 17, 2023 is the last day to call for an election in May .
• secure gymnasiums • reduce student travel time • repair foundations • improve campus communication
• replace buses • upgrade the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system • provide safety improvements to campuses
$218 MILLION TOTAL
PROPOSITION B $16.3 MILLION 7.48%
• upgrades for the Wagner High School track and eld as well as the tennis court
SOURCE: JUDSON ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
“The safety part of it I think is necessary, because as a district we do not have the resources to put for- ward what is necessary to upgrade every facility, and I think our community recognizes that,” Macias said. The largest portion of the bond, Proposition A, is an estimated $146.7 million that would focus on safety improvements to campuses. Proposition B, estimated at $16.3 million, would include upgrades for the Wagner High School track and eld as well as the tennis courts. Proposition C is an estimated $55 million and would include upgrading existing camera systems, adding cameras to nonsecure areas, upgrading network secu- rity and upgrading access control for entrances. Should the board pursue putting the bond on the November ballot, the call for an election would need to be made by Aug. 22. Should the board pursue the bond on the May 2023 ballot, the call for an election would need to be made in February. As of press time Aug. 9, a call had not been made. Trustee Suzanne Kenoyer said it should go to voters as soon as it can. “I don’t think we can wait,” Kenoyer said. “Should something happen at Judson ISD and we waited, I could never forgive myself. There are some things that are too important to wait on, and student and sta lives are one of those things.” Increasing school o cers Alongside the bond discussion, the JISD board of trustees has shown interest in more immediate action that would go into e ect at the start of the school year. On July 21, the board of trustees discussed the pos- sibility of increasing the number of police o cers within the district police department, which consists of 24 police o cers and four vacancies as of July. Communications Director Nicole Taguinod said each JISD police o cer is School Based Law Enforce- ment Certi ed and has received active shooter training. Taguinod said the JISD Police Department leads e orts to provide internal training that is aligned with
the Texas School Safety Center, a university-level research center at Texas State University in San Mar- cos, and all administrative teams receive Civilian Response Active Shooter Events training. Macias said the board of trustees should consider taking action on increasing security before the school year begins Aug. 17. “I’ll be very hard-pressed to not start this year, which is coming up very quickly, with some sort of statement and a deliberate action in doing something that is going to o er additional safety and comfort to our families and children,” Macias said. Superintendent Jeanette Ball said the district has come up with di erent proposals that would help put additional security at campuses during the upcoming school year. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD safety protocols Both SCUCISD and JISD partner with the Southwest Texas Fusion Center, which is a collaborative e ort of local, regional and national agencies with the goal of sharing information and resources to detect, pre- vent, investigate and respond to criminal and terrorist activity. On May 17, the SCUCISD board of trustees held a presentation that explained how the district works with Schertz and Cibolo to provide resource o cers and safety measures. Ryan Clark, the district’s safe schools and truancy coordinator, said the main areas when considering safety include prevention and mitigation; prepared- ness; response and recovery. As of Aug. 1, SCUC ISD has 11 resource o cers, four o cers will rotate between the elementary and inter- mediate schools daily, according to a letter from the superintendent that was emailed to parents. Clark said the district uses both digital and physical safeguards, including fences, barriers and software that can deter criminal activity. For student training, there are six mandatory safety drills meant to teach students the safest actions they can take during a given emergency.
Of these drills, the re drill occurs most frequently with one drill per month, and the lockdown drill occurs once per semester. Secure Drill, Evacuation Drill, Shelter-in-Place for Hazmat Drill, Shelter for Severe Weather Drill occur annually. According to Director of Communications Deanna Jackson, SCUCISD o cials are working on di erent options to ensure students have a safe school year. “SCUCISD is dedicated to ensuring the safety of our students and educators across all of our campuses and facilities, and every option that makes our schools and facilities safer is being considered at this time,” Jackson said. “As we evaluate these options over the remainder of the summer, SCUCISD will continue to consult with our partners in law enforcement and other safety o cials to determine the most appropri- ate actions to take moving forward into next school year and beyond.” Working with law enforcement SCUCISD also partners with Schertz and Cibolo to provide safety for campuses around the district. Cibolo Police Chief Bryan Hugghins and Fire Chief Mario Troncoso on June 30 explained to City Council how the city trains for school emergencies. “We are working every single day, making sure that we are as prepared as we can be to address a situation, such as the one that happened in Uvalde,” Hugghins said. Training in Cibolo includes “Stop The Bleed” train- ing, active shooter management courses, advanced law enforcement rapid response training and more, Hugghins said. Hugghins said Cibolo has also been involved with an integrated response group for Guadalupe County since 2018, which helps area law enforcement collab- orate to best handle emergency responses. “As you have seen in Uvalde, it wasn’t just [the] Uvalde [Police Department] or Uvalde ISD’s depart- ment that responded; law enforcement agencies from across the county came to assist,” Hugghins said. “That is what we expect. That is what we want
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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