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A history of safety spending Fort Bend ISD has secured nearly $42 million worth of safety and security upgrades in its last two bond e orts in 2014 and 2018, almost all of which have been completed. The district plans to continue addressing school safety and security in a possible November bond. Completed
Violence Archive, a nonpro t group that hosts a platform focusing on gun violence statistics across the country. A July 17 report from the Texas House Investigative Committee, which Gov. Greg Abbott tasked with investigating the law enforcement response to the shooting, condemned the “shortcom- ings and failures of the Uvalde Con- solidated Independent School District and of various agencies and o cers of law enforcement.” The report found responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training and failed to prioritize saving the lives of victims over their own safety. FBISD o cials said they believe the response in Uvalde would not happen in FBISD should a similar situation occur. “Since Uvalde is on everyone’s mind, we’ve all heard about signi cant delays about people trying to engage the shooter. That’s not the way our folks are trained,” FBISD Deputy Superin- tendent Steve Bassett said. “Our folks are trained to engage.” FBISD announced July 25 it is plan- ning for a $1.1 billion bond proposal to be on the Nov. 8 ballot with $5.6 mil- lion of that allocated to address safety and security. As FBISD assesses its pol- icies and procedures, the state is doing the same with school safety funding. In late June, Texas leaders announced more than $100 million for increased school safety and mental health programs. O cials also called for two special legislative committees to investigate school safety and mass violence to make recowmmendations before the 2023 Texas Legislative ses- sion set to begin in January. While education policy and advo- cacy groups hope for a more robust response from the state to prevent future violence, they said addressing school safety is not only a state issue,
2014 BOND Total: $484M Safety & security: $26.9M
2018 BOND Total: $992.6M Safety & security: $14.9M
2022 BOND* Total: $1.1B Safety & security $5.6M New security cameras
Safety & security 5.5%
Safety & security 0.5%
Safety & security 1.5%
Enhanced sta and student identi cation
Camera system Security entry areas Security fencing School bus security camera system and GPS Protective window lm
system (expected fall 2022) Additional security cameras Floor-mounted door locks Additional protective window lm Fencing around all elementary portable classrooms
Police vehicle replacements Additional oor-mounted door locks Standardized weapons and response kits Emergency noti cation system
*PROPOSED
SOURCE: FORT BEND ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
said Kevin Brown, executive direc- tor of the Texas Association of School Administrators, a professional associ- ation for Texas school administrators that provides networking and profes- sional learning opportunities as well as legislative advocacy. “It has to be a multifaceted, compre- hensive approach to how we engage with our communities, engage with our schools and work with our stu- Since 2018, Texas has had 19 inci- dents in which a gun was red on a K-12 campus, according to the national K-12 shooting database maintained by The Center for Homeland Defense and Security, a school focused on home- land security education, research and professional discipline to enhance U.S. national security and safety. Those 19 incidents led to 34 deaths and 48 wounded. The numbers only focus on incidents dents,” Brown said. Response to tragedy
“SINCE UVALDE IS ON EVERYONE’S MIND, WE’VE ALL HEARD ABOUT SIGNIFICANT DELAYS ABOUT PEOPLE TRYING TO ENGAGE THE SHOOTER. THAT’S NOT THE WAY OUR FOLKS ARE TRAINED. OUR FOLKS ARE TRAINED TO ENGAGE. STEVE BASSETT, FORT BEND ISD DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT
that occurred on school grounds during the school day. Shooting inci- dents that occurred outside of school hours or during a sporting event are not included in the count. Incidents such as these contrib- ute to why FBISD maintains both an emergency operations plan and a safety and security master plan, Bas- sett said. While the emergency plan addresses how the district mitigates, prepares, responds and recovers from
humanmade and natural hazards, the master plan, created in 2014, provides a safety and security road map, per FBISD’s website. That master plan shaped the 2014 $484 million bond e ort approved by voters. About $26.9 million, or 5.6%, was dedicated to safety and security and funded nearly 400 security in campuses across the district. Other bond items added security entry areas, more cameras and GPS devices for
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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