Purpose:

The School Safety and Security Committee is a working group of diverse individuals that serves the members of its school district or open-enrollment charter school by helping create and maintain a safe and secure school climate and culture for staff and students. 

Members: 

For this committee to have a significant impact on the school’s climate and culture, there is a need for representation from various perspectives on school safety and security. As a result, and to the greatest extent practicable, the committee must consist of at least the following individuals whose names are recorded in the district’s multi-hazard emergency operations plan (EOP) [TEC 37.108(f)(8) and TEC 37.109(a-1). 

• The city or county’s Office of Emergency Management: at least one representative. 
• The local police department or sheriff’s office: at least one representative. 
• From the Board of Trustees:  the President and at least one other representative of the Board.
• From the District: the Superintendent and at least another designee; one being a district classroom teacher.
• Parents or guardians of currently enrolled students: at least two.
• If the District has an instructional partnership with an open-enrollment charter school – a member of the charter school’s governing body, or their designee. 
• If the District has its own police department: at least one representative.

Safety & Security Committee Guidelines

Safety and Security Committee Meetings and Agendas

• December 11, 2023 Agenda
• July 10, 2023 Agenda
• May 15, 2023 Agenda
• December 6, 2022 Agenda
• August 4, 2022 Agenda

Whitehouse ISD participates in The Guardian Plan. Under the Guardian Plan, a district can grant anyone, including employees, permission to carry firearms on campuses through a contract. The Board desires to ensure the safety of students, school personnel and visitors, through authorizing a limited number of qualified District employees (“Guardians”) to possess certain firearms on school property to provide an effective and timely response to an emergency situation that poses an immediate threat to serious bodily injury and/or death.

Controlled access with one point of entry for visitors during the school day.

Full-time school resource officers at the High School and the Jr. High. The elementary schools maintain a roving SRO. 

• Officers are armed at all times and keep rifles in locked gun safes. 
• Officers are highly trained by the Whitehouse Police Department in collaboration with Whitehouse ISD.
• Security cameras inside and outside schools provide live access to staff and emergency responders.
• WISD security specialists are assigned to every campus. 
• WISD security specialists patrol campuses and perform unannounced security checks
• Regular safety drills and training for staff
• Threat Assessment Teams at each campus
• Raptor Visitor Management system
• Criminal background checks on all employees, volunteers, and contractors who work on District property
• Wide-area and local-area networks allow radio communication between staff in the event of an emergency
• SAY SOMETHING anonymous online tip-line for students, parents, teachers, and others to share concerns
• Police officers are encouraged to use school grounds to complete routine paperwork
• Region 7 ESC safety and security audits 
   

Other features of Whitehouse ISD schools: 

• Crossings guards direct vehicle and pedestrian traffic at elementary and middle schools, while parking lot attendants assist on high school campuses
• Full-time nurses at each campus have access to medical supplies, protective gear and equipment 
• Automated External Defibrillator (AEDs)
• Emergency first aid kits including tourniquets and Stop the Bleed kits
• Comprehensive guidance and counseling program focusing on the whole child, including support for students’ mental, social, and pysical needs
• District has a contract for random visits of K9 interdiction

Whitehouse ISD partners with the City of Whitehouse Police Department to provide School Resource Officers (SROs) for the district. 

School Resources Officers works closely with the District security teams to provide a police presence and visibility in schools. Students also get the opportunity to interact with officers and build positive relationships. Schools Resource Officers are employees of the Whitehouse Police Department, with salaries being a shared cost. They are highly trained by the police department to respond in the event of an emergency. All of the SROs are armed at all times and keep rifles in locked gun safes. 

Behavioral threat assessment and management (oftentimes referred to as threat assessment) provides an evidence-based approach toward indentifying students or other individuals who pose a threat, intervening with appropriate resources, and ultimately improving the safety and well-being of the individual of concern, the situation, and the school. 

Each campus at Whitehouse ISD is equipped with a Behavioral Threat Assessment Team who have all been trained according to the requirements set forth by the Texas Education Agency along with Texas School Safety Center. 

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