A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download and PRINTING.

April 10, 2008

TO THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT:  Texas Unified School Safety Standards

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is pleased to announce the completion of the Texas Unified School Safety Standards. School safety organizations and committed stakeholders from throughout Texas – led by the Texas Education Agency, Texas School Safety Center, Harris County Department of Education, and the Statewide Initiative for Safe & Drug-Free Schools at ESC Region VI – joined together to develop the Unified School Safety Standards for Texas Public Schools. The official presentation of these standards recently took place at the Texas Safe Schools and Healthy Students Summit in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The authorization and implementation of Texas Unified School Safety Standards will benefit all districts by providing a benchmark to measure school safety efforts.  The developed standards reflect our state’s high expectations for school safety, while providing flexibility for the diverse characteristics present in schools across the State of Texas.  The standards are posted on the website for the Texas School Safety Center (http://cscs.txstate.edu/txssc/txssc-standards.htm).  While the standards themselves cannot provide the specific details of actions school districts should take to meet the safety needs of their schools, they do offer general guidance to schools on how to best prevent incidents before one does occur, mitigate the harm to life and property if an incident does occur, prepare for worst-case scenarios on incidents that are likely to occur, and to recover from incidents that do occur.
 
More specific guidance in satisfying each standard will soon be developed through a system of School Safety Best Practices. By working to develop these best practices and then sharing them with others, Texas schools will be demonstrating their commitment to ensure that they “remain safe havens in which youth can learn and thrive.”  As the dates are announced for regional workshops, all interested stakeholders are encouraged to attend and provide valuable input, as was demonstrated in the development of Texas Unified School Safety Standards.  For more information or to become involved in the process, please contact Mr. Billy Jacobs with the Texas School Safety Center at (877) 304-2727.

Sincerely,

Jeff Kloster
Associate Commissioner
Health and Safety