The Texas Education Agency (TEA) updated the Texas school safety standards earlier this month to amend certain safety requirements for schools to follow. 

“In light of recent events, ongoing public concern, and the charge by Governor Abbott, the Commissioner… is proposing §61.1031 to address school safety and ensure minimum school safety standards to address the safety of students and staff alike in our public schools,” said the TEA.

In the new standards, the TEA established modifications structurally and systematically for school districts to adopt. The TEA is also providing grant opportunities for school districts seeking funding for the upgrades needed and schools must implement these plans for construction or modification during the 2022-2023 school year. August of 2023 is the deadline to have a contractor procured.

First, the TEA outlined structural requirements for school facilities to modify. The TEA outlined that if the school has a wall or fence, it must be at least 6 feet high and have unscalable measures to it. Or it must be 8 feet high. If it is gated, school districts must prevent the gate openings from being accessed from the outside without a key or system to unlock it. 

Every exterior door to a school building must be labeled in a counterclockwise sequence, with the main entrance being the first, and a layout of the numbered doors to the school both in print and electronic format. Doors also must be structurally modified to be intruder-resistant, and exterior glass windows need to be harder and difficult to break, being modified with resistant glass. All exterior doors need to have closed, latched, and locked statuses that are magnetic and still allow for emergency exits. Locked doors that are not locked must trigger an alarm so the school is aware. 

The TEA also is mandating primary entrances must be able to visually identify visitors trying to come in, have check-ins and check-outs, and have a physical barrier that keeps people from entering the school without someone from the school staff letting them in. If classrooms have exterior doors, someone has to monitor if someone from the outside is coming in. 

Then other new standards are systematic. There must be at least one master key for law enforcement and emergency responders and two-way radios must be able to function in the majority of the school building. Then the TEA mandates alert systems to be triggered by staff and 911 phone calls.

Then, TEA is implementing auditing and maintenance standards for school districts to comply with. School boards must set up protocols for weekly school security audits and report those results to all personnel listed in the TEA standards. Lastly, the TEA sets standards for biannual maintenance checks for each school facility to be conducted.