In light of the school shootings that occurred during the last school year, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s proposals for school safety that was issued in May 2018, The “Times” has reached out to area School Districts to discover what safety precautions are being taken to protect our children locally.

At Fairfield ISD, Interim Superintendent Tony Price and Officer Billy Barlow sat down to explain the techniques, technology, and tactics being used to ensure student safety.

Some of those include:

–District-wide Video Surveillance System that is accessible via cell phone for Officer Barlow

–Restricted Access to campuses so public traffic is routed through the main office area

–Hand-held metal detectors

–Drug & Gun Search Dogs

–Safety drills for tornados, fires, and active shooter situations

–Vast internet security measures

–Several others that can’t be made public

“We are very careful to not overstep boundaries,” says Mr. Price. “But student and staff safety is our top priority. We utilize our resources as necessary.”

Both say that there is great communication between students, parents, and staff.

“Our saying is… If you see something, say something,” explains Officer Barlow. “We handle situations privately and students don’t get in trouble if they report something that turns out not to be true.”

“At Dew ISD, we have several protocols in place,” explains Superintendent Darrell Evans. “Some things cannot be shared with the public, but rest assured, student safety is of utmost importance to us.”

Some of the protocols they can share are:

–Video Surveillance

–The Raptor System – Screens visitors by reading the driver’s license and comparing it to a sex offender database. It will alert School Administration if a match is found.

–The “I Love U Guys” standard response protocol adopted by the state. This system is used to determine if a school campus should Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate, or Shelter based on the particular situation at the time. For more information on this, visit www.iloveuguys.org

Teague ISD and Wortham ISD were also contacted, but The “Times” received no response from either district. If you are concerned about what strategies and protocols they might have in place, please contact the administration building.

Nicole Schaefer reporting