HEB ISD reviews safety audits, threat assessments and expands visitor and emergency management systems

District safety leaders presented a year‑end review of safety and security projects, threat‑assessment work, and emergency reunification responses.

Mister Phillips opened the item saying the report would cover audits, emergency management and reunification, and threat‑assessment activity. He told trustees the district completed 31 random intruder audits this year and had corrective findings at 10 campuses, mostly mechanical door failures. He said adding elementary school resource officers (ESROs) improved campus checks: "as we have gained more elementary SROs... they are being able to check more often than the principal and the assistant principal," Phillips said.

Reunifications and incident response: staff described two large reunifications. In one case the district responded to a four‑inch gas main leak and reunified more than 800 students and staff to Harwood Junior High. In a separate incident the district evacuated in response to a bomb threat email affecting multiple campuses and reunified over 1,200 students at the Pat May site; staff said all students went home safely and that after‑action reviews produced near‑term fixes (for example, providing radios for reunification staff).

Threat assessment and Student Safe: the district described deploying a new Raptor Student Safe referral tool that allows any staff member to file a student concern. Safety staff reported about 1,903 Student Safe submissions this year and 731 crisis referrals; 36 complete threat assessments were conducted. Phillips explained full threat assessments involve a multi‑member team that interviews students and families and assigns ratings (low, high, imminent, etc.). He noted partnerships with local police for summer monitoring of active threat cases and said threat assessments can transfer between districts and to colleges when appropriate.

Visitor management and system purchases: staff asked the board to extend an existing Raptor Technologies agreement and to approve an expanded bundle that adds panic‑button alerting and an emergency management module. The board approved the extension and the expansion; staff said initial implementation fees total $129,435 with an annual ongoing cost of about $314,000 for the full suite.

Other facility and equipment approvals: the board approved purchase of repeater towers to improve two‑way radio coverage at large secondary campuses, replacement of an out‑of‑date fire alarm system at Lakewood Elementary (long‑lead item ordered), and ongoing access control and radio‑repeater projects. Phillips said the district is ahead of schedule on the elementary SRO program, with 10 in place and additional hires in process.

Why it matters: the report shows the district is investing in layered safety systems, formalizing threat‑assessment workflows and expanding visitor management tools; staff framed these as measures to identify concerns earlier and to "interrupt the pathway to violence."