McKinney | August 2023

CONTINUED FROM 1

INVESTING IN SECURITY Annual spending on safety and security in McKinney ISD has risen over 200% since 2010 due to the rising cost of School Resource Ocers, according to district ocials. Here is a breakdown of the district’s annual safety spending in recent years.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3 into law June 14, and it will go into eect Sept. 1. The bill’s require- ments say a qualifying armed ocer must be on campus during regular school hours. The ocer could be a school resource ocer, or SRO, but it could also be a school marshal, school guardian or a private security ocer. However, district ocials are not con- sidering arming MISD teachers or sta to meet the requirement, Pratt said. “Teachers don’t get into education to carry a gun; they get into education because they love kids and they’re pas- sionate for education, so it’s a complex issue,” Pratt said. The McKinney Police Department provides 14 SROs and two SRO ser- geants to MISD, but district ocials are not expecting that number to increase, Pratt said. To meet the newly estab- lished requirements, the district needs 19 more qualifying armed guards for a total of 35. In an Aug. 14 email to parents of MISD students, district ocials said they plan to use a “multi-layered model” to meet the requirement, including hiring former law enforce- ment ocers as school marshalls as well as hiring a licensed security ser- vice provider. The board of trustees also passed a good cause exemption to allow for the implementation of the mixed strategy at its Aug. 14 meeting. The state bill provides an allot- ment of $15,000 per campus, along with a safety allotment of $10 per stu- dent, to fund the safety upgrades and expenses. MISD ocials estimate the district will receive about $480,000 as a result of the bill. “There’s a big decit between the [$15,000 per campus] that we’re going to get and what we’re actually going to have to pay, but we’re not going to allow budget to be an issue in our strategies,” Pratt said. The bill also charged the Texas School Safety Center, a research cen- ter at Texas State University, with auditing school security practices with districts across the state every ve years. “We’ll be working hand in hand [with the Texas Education Agency], working through implementation of House Bill 3 and how to do it in a way that school districts know that we’re here to help,” said Kathy Mar- tinez-Prather, director of the Texas School Safety Center.

Amount spent by MISD on Security & Monitoring Services

Bonds and safety McKinney ISD ocials have also included funds for safety and security upgrades in the most recent voter-approved bonds.

$622K

2011-12 2010-11

Bond funds for operations, growth and more Bond funds for health, safety and security 2011 Bond 2016 Bond

$583K

$749K

2012-13

2021 Bond

$913K $882K

2014-15 2013-14

$191M total bond

$220M total bond

$275M total bond

$1.18M

2015-16

$1.36M

2016-17 2017-18

1.74%

2.18%

$1.41M

$1.51M

2018-19

$1.7M

2019-20

2020-2022: The district invested in internet content ltering, identity automation and cybersecurity monitoring services.

$2.19M

2020-21

$2.30M

2022-23* 2023-24* 2021-22

District leaders invested over $2.9 MILLION in safety upgrades between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years

*ANNUAL BUDGET NOT YET FINALIZED SOURCE: MCKINNEY ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

school safety bill that will require armed guards at every campus, along with enhanced mental health training and more. Another approved bill will require districts to add silent panic alert devices in every classroom. MISD ocials are evaluating how to best implement the new require- ments in the coming years while con- tinuing ongoing safety eorts. “Safety and security of MISD stu- dents and sta are the No. 1 priority of this district and particularly the board of trustees,” MISD School Board Presi- dent Philip Hassler said. “If we cannot have a safe learning environment, we are already behind the ability to be able to meet kids where they are.” Adding safety infrastructure The campus upgrades, completed by Balfour Beatty Construction, included adding security vestibules, which are enclosed spaces between two sets of doors at the entrance to the school building. Vestibules are typically connected to the front desk through an intercom system to let in visitors. The vesti- bules also include bullet-resistant doors and windows, according to dis- trict documents.

Security vestibules were added at other MISD campuses during annual summer refresh projects. However, fol- lowing recent school security concerns in the state, district sta were asked to complete the safety upgrades at the 16 remaining campuses this summer,

we have from both hardening of the campuses’ technology and hardware that makes us safer to our policies and procedures and practices—our rou- tines,” Pratt said. The district has spent over $10 mil- lion in the past ve years on safety and

according to a pre- sentation by district sta at a Jan. 24 meeting. “Since there were some security issues in the state recently, we’ve been asked to accelerate that con- struction schedule,” Chief Operations Ocer Greg Suttle said. The addition of

security monitoring, according to district budget documents. Pratt said the dis- trict’s next bond pack- age, not expected until 2026, will also likely include an increased allotment for security measures. “I think every bond that we’ve had, the safety and secu- rity piece has been increased,” Pratt said. “In a couple of years

“SAFETY AND SECURITY OF MISD STUDENTS AND STAFF ARE THE NO. 1 PRIORITY OF THIS DISTRICT AND PARTICULARLY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES” PHILIP HASSLER, MISD SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT

security vestibules cost on average about $146,000 per school, according to meeting documents. Upgrades at four elementary school campuses were also completed to con- vert open-concept kindergarten areas into classrooms. “Safety and security for schools has become more intense, more involved. … We have, every year, built on what

when we go out [for the next bond pack- age], I think that will increase dramati-

cally in the next one.” Eects of House Bill 3

A major school safety bill the Texas Legislature approved this year will require all public school campuses to have at least one armed ocer.

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