John Barnes was rushed to the emergency room on a gurney, barely alive, in the chaos and blood that came with the Santa Fe High School shooting on May 18. Thirty-three days later, on Wednesday, he walked out of TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, ready to go home. “I just want to sit on the porch and smoke a cigar,” Barnes said, chuckling. A whiskey sounded good, too. But the 49-year old Santa Fe ISD police officer won’t get either for quite some time. A formidable recovery looms. view article

Maypearl ISD will host ALICE Trainer of Trainers Course for all businesses, local schools and churches Oct. 1 — 2. Maypearl ISD Superintendent Richie Bowling advised, “Seats will go fast.” ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate and is a useful strategy for everyone: law enforcement, schools, universities, hospitals, businesses and places of worship. Upon completion of the ALICE training, an instructor certification course provides individuals with certification in ALICE and allows them the opportunity to bring the strategies back to their places of work. Additionally, registrants will gain access to exclusive ALICE resources. view article

Following the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, the Fort Bend ISD administration has formed a safety advisory committee, FBISD Police Chief David Rider said. The committee is composed of over 40 students, staff members, parents, security experts and other members of the community. “The purpose of our committee is to research and reach consensus on ideas that can be added to the existing Safety and Security Master Plan to enhance security measures already in place,” said Debbie Dunlap, the committee’s co-chair and former FBISD educator. view article

About a month ago, 10 people were killed and 13 others wounded in a shooting at Santa Fe High School.That tragedy sent state and school officials scrambling to examine school safety and, within days, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot convened a three-day round table to develop ideas to prevent future incidents and secure school campuses. The result of the discussions was a 40-point list of recommendations, which the governor detailed earlier this month. view article

Devin Skinner watched with a critical eye as the Liberty High School wrestler did a series of squats on the indoor turf field. First came basic squats with arms overhead. Then 16-year- old Precious Essien repeated the move with blocks under his heels. The third round — the one-legged squats — is where Skinner saw stability issues: the foot flattening, the knee giving in and trunk twisting and tilting forward. With a few taps on his tablet, Skinner had a series of exercises to help. All Essien has to do is download a mobile app called Fusionetics and follow through with the prescribed movements before his daily workouts.  view article

Starting in August, Midway High School students who park on campus will be subject to random drug testing, after a decision this week by Midway Independent School District trustees. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to widen the scope of its drug testing policy, which already applies to students grades seventh through 12th who are involved in extracurricular activities. “Our entire goal I think was to cast a wider net ... to catch more students into a restorative way when they do get involved in drugs,” Assistant Superintendent Jeanie Johnson told the board Tuesday. She said the proposal was the result of “a lot of time and effort and thoughtful consideration from several groups.” view article

Lorena ISD will now have a school resource officer for the upcoming school year. The district announced that it had partnered with the City of Lorena and the Lorena Police Department for the upcoming school year.  view article

From the Kilgore Independent School District: Kilgore Independent School District will be conducting random drug testing in the 2018-2019 school year. According to KISD Superintendent Cara Cooke they do not have a drug problem running rampant in the halls; the district wants to be proactive. view article

The Mineola School Board met in a special meeting last Monday to discuss a myriad of possible changes that could affect the district going forward. Two action items were approved during the meeting as the board adopted three resolutions for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). Those were the elimination of the 300-square mile penalty in funding from the state that affects Mineola. They also included increased support for safety measures including additional security personnel. The third was modification to the current state accountability system to increase the weight of locally developed community based measures in addition to mandated STAAR test scores.   view article

SAN ANGELO — More Texas school districts are making the move to have armed staff members on campuses. In late February there were 172 Texas school districts allowing staff and/or board members to carry firearms on school property, according to a statewide review of board policies by the Texas Association of School Boards. A similar review Wednesday, June 13, 2018 shows that number had jumped to more than 200. Use this searchable database of policies on file with the Texas Association of School Boards to learn how school districts are arming staff.   view article

Across Texas and the country, many campuses conduct active shooter drills. Because school shootings are often perpetrated by students who attend those schools, some raise a concern: Do these drills give potential shooters too much inside information? Schools conduct all kinds of safety drills to prepare for everything from fires to tornadoes. Beginning in the 1950s, triggered by the threat of a nuclear explosion, Bert the cartoon turtle taught kids to “duck and cover.” Similarly, active shooter drills are designed to enhance safety, but what if they do the opposite? view article

Santa Fe High School received nine threats in the months leading up to the May 18 shooting that killed 10 people and injured 13, including one threat that surfaced nine days before the massacre, according to police records.Santa Fe ISD Police Chief Walter Braun would not provide details of the threats but said Tuesday that they were not related to the May 18 shooting. He said threats logged by the district do not necessarily mean a threat against the school or student body, or a threat involving a weapon. view article

When Southeast Texas students return to school this fall, they'll likely see a larger armed presence on campus, as more districts look to add police officers or arm their own staff. "I don't think it's exaggerating to say that all of them are at least discussing the combinations of adding law enforcement or arming teachers or both," Region 5 Executive Director Danny Lovett said of the 35 districts in the area. view article

I live in Santa Fe Independent School District, and I’m devastated by the shooting in my community. The ensuing discussion about keeping children safe is critically important, but Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to expand the school marshal program moves us backward. Arming teachers and staff is dangerous and makes schools less safe. While there is zero evidence that more guns in schools will protect children, there is much evidence that the presence of a firearm increases risks to children. This is why teachers, law enforcement organizations and school safety experts are united in their opposition to arming teachers. view article

The Midway Independent School District School Board unanimously approved on extending the measures of its current student drug policy on Tuesday. Currently, Midway High School students participating in extracurricular activities are subject to random drug testing. Midway ISD wanted to take the policy a step further by including every student with a parking permit attending the high school. view article

On Tuesday evening dozens of parents and students filled the Pottsboro High School auditorium to learn more about the district's new drug testing policy. Pottsboro ISD Superintendent, Kevin Matthews says "The main purpose was to prevent students or deter them from ever even thinking about attempting or using the drugs or causing any type of injuries to themselves." view article

Georgetown ISD Superintendent Fred Brent announced the establishment of a committee for safety and security at a board of trustees regular meeting Monday. Brent was asked by the district’s board of trustees in May to form a committee that would look at security throughout the district and what improvements can be made to keep students, faculty and staff safe. The announcement of the committee came days after the Santa Fe High School shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, where 10 died and 13 others were injured. view article

WICHITA FALLS, Tx (RNN Texoma) - For the 2018-2019 school year, City View Elementary parents and guardians will notice something different when they walk through the school's front entrance. "When I went to school you didn't worry about is someone going to bring something to school and harm us," CVISD Superintendent, Tony Bushong said. However, times have changed and Bushong said that means security must change as well. As administrators, he said they have to think ahead to ensure their school district is not the next one making national news. view article

The Stephenville ISD board of trustees took two big steps Monday to improve school security. The board voted to allocate $250,000 for immediate security improvements and to form a committee to help in the decision-making process. The first motion was made by board member Scott Osman, saying he wanted to see funds set aside to get something in place before the bond construction begins. view article

The Round Rock school district board is scheduled to take action Thursday night on a resolution to establish a district police force, an initiative district staff said would likely cost $1.08 million to implement for the next school year. The board has discussed establishing a district police department after school Superintendent Steve Flores, Round Rock police Chief Allen Banks and Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody co-signed a letter in April supporting a district police force. view article

A former Houston police sergeant, an ex-Harris County deputy sheriff and a former Dayton ISD teacher were among 60 people arrested as part of a three-month-long regional operation that targeted internet crimes against children, authorities said Tuesday. For the fifth year, a partnership involving eight counties and 65 different law-enforcement agencies from across the Houston area worked together for 90 days as part of Operation Broken Heart, which stems from the efforts of the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. view article

Three months after Vernon ISD decided to bring a police officer on board to patrol the campuses. The district is also making more security changes. Vernon ISD already has magnet doors that you have to be buzzed into but the superintendent didn't feel that was enough. So, now they are considering other options. Officials with Vernon ISD are spending the summer updating its school safety plan before parents like Molly Schiwart start dropping her children off at school in the fall. view article

Cameron ISD will host area first responders in a meeting and tour of facilities on Aug. 1 in an effort to ramp up collaboration between them and the school district to keep students safe. Yoe High Assistant Principal Brian Stork told Cameron Independent School District Board of Trustees members about the meeting and ongoing efforts to keep students safe while they are on campus during the board’s meeting on June 11. Stork said the event will gather all first responders including Cameron Police, Milam County Sheriff’s Office, Cameron Fire Department, Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers, Emergency Management and EMS to give them the chance to hear about CISD’s plans should there be the need for their response in an emergency situation.  view article

More than $1.7-million is expected to be included in the new Austin school district budget for security upgrades.  Director of Accountability Linda Ready says money needs to be spent to protect both the physical and emotional safety of every student in the district. Ready also says that not only do students have to be safe, they have to feel safe too. view article

It’s become a common refrain after each new mass shooting: “There were red flags.” Before 26 people died in a rural church in Sutherland Springs in November, the shooter had escaped from a mental health facility, received a domestic violence conviction and had a standoff with police. Before the February massacre of 17 students and staff at a high school in Parkland, Florida, there were repeated calls to the police and multiple warnings about a potential school shooting to the FBI. view article

The Texas Association of School Boards says 172 districts had weapons in February, and it's now up to 217, which is 20 percent of all of the school districts in Texas. view article

The Austin school board Monday night approved a $7.1 million student health services plan that will continue to leave some campuses without a school nurse and others with a part-time nurse on site.Seton Healthcare Family, which has provided the district’s student medical services for nearly 25 years, will provide 75 nurses and 48 clinical assistants to the district’s 130 campuses, as well as behavioral health services. view article

Parents in Fort Bend ISD got a look Monday night at what changes could be made to make their children's schools safer. FBISD Police Chief David Rider presented to the Board of Trustees the security measures being discussed by the district's Safety Advisory Committee. The committee is made up of 40 people including students, teachers, parents and law enforcement. It was formed after the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida. view article

New Hampshire state officials say they've confirmed an outbreak of whooping cough at a school in Exeter. Jake Leon, director of communication for state Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed Monday there are currently 22 diagnosed cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, associated with Exeter High School. Leon tells the Portsmouth Herald that the case is considered an outbreak because it is so high compared to the state average. view article

The number of uninsured children in Texas dropped 23.1 percent between 2013 and 2016, says a new report that links the decline to a booming state economy and to the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. As more adults gained access to health insurance, either through an employer or on the ACA marketplace, that benefit trickled down to kids, say researchers from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center. view article

Parents and community members met for a town hall meeting Monday with Waco Independent School District superintendent Dr. Marcus Nelson to voice their concerns about how to prevent gun violence at local schools. Nelson shared with the community Governor Greg Abbott's proposals on how to make Texas schools safer for students. He said some of the things the governor has come up with, is the idea to increase law enforcement presence at schools, provide active shooter and emergency response training, and considered the hardening of campus facilities. view article

City View ISD is making some changes to its elementary school starting with the front entrance. To keep students safe bulletproof windows are being added at the front. Any visitor will need to be buzzed in before going inside the school. New flooring is also being added to the stage and one of the gyms. view article

Waco Independent School District will provide secure entrances to every campus by the end of summer and will consider metal detectors and arming certain staff as “school marshals” in response to heightened concerns of gun violence, Superintendent A. Marcus Nelson said at a town hall meeting Monday. But some parents and school employees voiced concerns that just focusing on security won’t erase students’ anxiety and may increase it. At one of two school safety forums held in Waco, Nelson talked to some 120 people at the City of Waco Multipurpose Center at 1020 Elm Ave. A simultaneous meeting at South Waco Elementary School drew about 35. view article

A Student Health Advisory Committee report recommends adding 12 crisis counselors to support the mental health needs of Midland ISD students. The additional staffers are being requested “in light of our focus on mental health programs and the continued need to be vigilant and proactive with the well-being of our students throughout Midland ISD,” the committee said. view article

Midway High School students with parking permits may soon face random drug testing. The district board plans on voting on this topic on Tuesday. The drug testing costs the district about $14,000 per school year. The plan is to set aside an additional $5,000.  view article