Laredo ISD safety committee approves staff to attend Texas School Safety Center trainer-of-trainers session

LAREDO, Texas — The Laredo Independent School District Safety and Security Committee voted to approve several district employees to attend a Texas School Safety Center trainer-of-trainers session on Feb. 20 at the Region 1 Education Service Center in Edinburg.

Doctor Gilberto Perez, a Laredo ISD staff member, told the committee that the Texas School Safety Center provided a curriculum intended for “trainer of trainers” use. “This is a 6 hour training trainer of trainer sessions and it's scheduled for February 20 from 08:30 to 04:30 and again going to be at region 1 service center Edinburg, Texas,” Perez said.

The vote allows the listed employees to register and attend. Doctor Perez said registrants must complete a registration form that includes a checkbox related to attendee qualifications; the exact wording of that checkbox was not specified in the meeting record. Committee members described the curriculum as sensitive and emphasized that participants will be expected to return and train other district staff and students.

Why it matters: Committee members said a trainer-of-trainers model will let the district quickly deploy consistent safety instruction across campuses. Perez said a multidisciplinary trainer team will make on-campus training quicker and allow the district to deliver sessions by feeder pattern or specialty school.

Details and discussion: Doctor Perez said the district received notice from the Texas School Safety Center in January and that the training involves collaboration with other school-safety programs. He told the committee that the district had selected a multidisciplinary team to attend; he named the employees included in the approval as Doctor Perez, Mr. Mora, Ms. Solis and Lieutenant Alberto Juarez, and said additional trainers engaged for deployment include Mr. Hino Reyes, Mr. JJ Gonzalez and Mr. Ray Reyes from the safety department. Perez said the team totals about seven trainers when deployed.

Committee members asked how employees were selected. Perez replied the Center requested a multidisciplinary team and that he, Doctor Rios and campus and police partners recommended the named individuals.

Formal action: The motion to approve the listed employees to attend the Region 1 training was moved by Benito Martinez and seconded by Juliana Chavana. Committee chair Doctor Rios called for the question; members voiced their approval and the motion passed. The record shows the motion passed by voice vote; an exact roll-call tally was not specified in the transcript.

Implementation and next steps: Perez and other committee members said the attendees’ primary role will be to train campus staff and students after returning from the Region 1 session. Committee members requested that returning attendees share updates with the safety committee and the Board of Trustees if the curriculum requires any district changes. Perez said the district plans to use the trainer team to deliver sessions through professional learning communities and campus-level training.

Attendance and context: The item was handled during a special-call safety committee meeting convened separately from the Board of Trustees, as cited during roll call under “chapter 37 109” (reference in the meeting transcript; text of the cited chapter was not provided). The committee noted the training’s content is sensitive and that the Texas School Safety Center’s curriculum will include guidance on how district trainers should share material.

The committee adjourned the special-call meeting after the vote.