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Brazosport ISD details campus security upgrades, armed 'level three' specialists and grant‑funded communications work
Summary
Committee members reviewed a broad set of safety measures — from door locking and bullet‑resistant film to law‑enforcement nox boxes, fencing, metal detectors, and deployment of armed 'level three' safety specialists — and staff said provisional compliance with TEA allows use of additional grant funds for communications upgrades.
At its Jan. 13, 2025 meeting, the Brazosport Independent School District Safety and Security Committee reviewed a multi‑part plan of campus security upgrades and documentation demonstrating compliance with Texas School Safety Center and Texas Education Agency (TEA) requirements.
District staff said they volunteered to pilot TEA's vulnerability‑assessment rubric, submitted supporting documentation (photos, purchase orders, work‑order snapshots) showing completed remediation, and addressed TEA's requests for additional evidence. Examples cited by staff included door numbering and peepholes on exterior classroom doors, padlocks on roof‑access latches, and installation of bullet‑resistant film on exterior doors and adjacent windows where required.
Staff also described operational and equipment measures deployed or planned across the district: deployment of armed "level three" safety specialists at secondary and elementary campuses (staff stated 16 specialists are currently deployed and one new hire was underway, an estimated total of 17), installation of approximately 90 law‑enforcement nox boxes stocked with BISD access cards and master keys to be distributed to local agencies, perimeter fencing at select campuses funded by grants, and trial use of three open‑gate metal‑detector units for screening.
"The level three safety Specialists being above and beyond the state requirement — that's a great thing to have," Deputy Superintendent Whitehead said, praising the additional armed support on secondary campuses. The committee discussed staffing rotation and the use of floaters to cover absences.
Staff reported completion of staff training modules (avoid/deny/defend and STOP the Bleed) and said the district issued a purchase order described in the meeting record as a multi‑million‑dollar order to install bi‑directional amplifiers and cell boosters at district facilities to improve radio and cellular communications for emergency responders; the project was described as due by July 31, 2025. A presenter also referenced larger communications grants (stating "you saw the $7 million") and another speaker cited a business‑office figure of "I think it was $355,900" in relation to grant accounting; the transcript contains inconsistent dollar figures and staff should be consulted for precise amounts.
District staff said these measures — and documentation showing them — resulted in provisional compliance with TEA requirements, which in turn allows the district to access Cycle 2 grant funding to continue implementing upgrades. Staff said they would continue to document work and provide updates to the committee.
No formal motions or roll‑call votes were recorded for the security upgrades during the meeting; the committee's only recorded formal action was approval to allow staff to attend the Texas School Safety Center train‑the‑trainer session.
