Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
KIPP Texas committee updates emergency operations plan, reports intruder-audit progress
Summary
The KIPP Texas Safety and Security Committee reviewed minor updates to the districtwide emergency operations plan, announced state approval of a new cybersecurity annex and reported progress and findings from intruder detection audits covering most KIPP schools.
The KIPP Texas Public Schools Safety and Security Committee on April 10 reviewed updates to its districtwide emergency operations plan and a newly approved cybersecurity annex, and received a status report on intruder detection audits the Texas Education Agency is conducting at most KIPP campuses.
Committee Chair Sean Raymond opened the meeting and the group approved the committee minutes from October 2024 by a 7-0 vote. "Seba moved," the record shows, and Ellen seconded; the chair announced the motion passed 7 to 0.
At the meeting, Laura Migashara, KIPP Texas chief operating officer, said the latest basic emergency operations plan (EOP) update was largely perfunctory: it added meeting dates, updated committee membership and reflected recent leadership changes. She told the committee that the Texas School Safety Center reviewed school-level cybersecurity annexes and approved the revised annexes "just this last week." Migashara said KIPP’s information-technology team already maintained an incident response plan and worked with safety staff to place that plan into the school-safety-center template.
Craig Groloski, who led the operational summary, said the school system is adding emphasis on a cybersecurity coordinator position at each school and increasing training expectations for staff. "They got that approval. So that's that's a win for us," Groloski said, referring to the Texas School Safety Center sign-off. He described district training that simulates phishing emails and flags employees who click simulated malicious links as part of hands-on cybersecurity training.
On intruder detection audits, Groloski and committee staff said the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will audit 47 of KIPP’s 54 schools. The committee reported that TEA-related auditors have conducted 43 school audits so far and that 10 of those audits produced findings for which corrective actions were put in place. Groloski described auditors testing access-management protocols and exterior door security; he also noted KIPP’s internal policy requiring classroom doors be locked as an added protective layer.
Committee members contrasted the state audit coverage with KIPP’s internal checks. Groloski said the TEA mandate requires weekly exterior door checks; KIPP conducts door checks more frequently—"3 times a day or 15 times a week if there's 5 days of school," he said—so the district believes it is exceeding the state standard. Committee staff also said the district regularly audits campuses internally so every school receives an intruder-detection review at least once per year.
Looking ahead, staff told the committee the next meeting will likely occur in May or June (a summer meeting after school ends). They plan to bring the final four TEA intruder-detection audits expected in early May and a comprehensive three-year-cycle audit — described as containing more than 1,500 checklist items — for committee review. That three-year-cycle report, staff said, will be submitted to the Texas School Safety Center in September following committee consideration.
The meeting adjourned at 4:07 p.m.
