Marty Crawford, Superintendent of Tyler ISD, honors educators of Tyler ISD during the 2022 District Educators of the Year banquet on April 8. 

Safety and security is a top priority day in and day out at Tyler ISD campuses, Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford said.

In the aftermath of a mass school shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children and two teachers dead, Tyler ISD wants to ensure parents it is prepared should the unthinkable happen at one of its campuses.

As a parent of a Tyler ISD student himself, Crawford said he has to be able to trust that his child is safe at school every day, while he also works to protect every other child within the district.

“We do have things in place that are proactive in nature should this happen. For one, our community has backed us with these school buildings that they’ve built us for the last 20 years. The first thing we do when we go to programming is the safety and security of those facilities and what we can do to modernize the enhancements of safety and security.”

Crawford said things like controlled vestibules and numerous cameras along with the district police and safety forces are part of those safeguards.

“That’s one thing our community needs to know — that we spend upwards of $1 million plus out of our revenue to make sure we’re doing that,” Crawford said. “There have been some opportunities from the state legislature that have allowed us to supplement some of the enhancements that we’ve got here as well, but from everything to cybersecurity, to physical security of our campuses, to personnel, to mental health — we’ve got resources deployed.

“Not just going through the motions on saying that we’re trying to do the best we can with safety and security, we’ve got people — a lot of people — who that’s all they do for a living in Tyler ISD.”

The district has an emergency operations plan in place that is coordinated and ready to go should any campus receive a threat, along with communications set up well ahead of time, said Chief Communication Officer Jennifer Hines.

“One of the benefits to being the largest school district in East Texas is that we do have our own police department, so we do have these resources on our campus, readily available, visiting and present, on a daily basis,” Hines said.

The district also holds routine #safeTisd meetings once a month as part of a multi-faceted response plan that includes all Tyler ISD facilities and departments. The program includes a number of initiatives aimed at fortifying buildings, ensuring regular training, communication and increasing staff and public awareness.

“Those meetings are held monthly to troubleshoot any issues and deploy solutions whenever we meet,” Crawford said. “They include everything from things like we’re talking about today (threats) to vaping to TikTok challenges. It’s not like we only convene when one of these things happens. It’s a monthly thing for us, and it’s important for us to make sure that we’re communicating and that were deploying out solutions whenever we need to.”

The entire goal of that program is to improve safety and security within the district while promoting emergency preparedness among students and staff, Crawford said.

Crawford also emphasized the district is fortunate to have its own police force and safety and security squad, noting it has about 25 certified peace officers and three retired federal agents on staff. Along with campus officers, close relationships with the Tyler police and fire departments and various other agencies are maintained to ensure emergency response plans remain current and effective.

Although campus officers are always on hand, there was a heightened presence on Wednesday.

“We were on point (Wednesday), just like we are at the end of every school year, looking for anything that might be out of place,” Crawford said.

He said the close attention to security and safety is not new for the district and it’s “at the top of the to-do list” every day; however, the tragic events in Uvalde had the district on high alert to ensure its campuses were safe Wednesday until the last day of school on Friday.

Crawford said along with its monthly safety meetings, the district also holds meetings three times per year with a committee made up of parents, school board trustees and law enforcement officials. The district presents the committee with protocols it has in place, any key findings and also troubleshoots anything it suspects could be an issue now or in the future.

Those committee meetings are required by the state after passage of Senate Bill 11 during the 86th legislative session in 2019. The bill requires school districts to appoint school safety committees that meet once a semester to provide their boards of trustees with recommendations for updates to their districts’ emergency operations plans.

The district also has a Standard Response Protocol, or SRP, in place. The SRP is based on five actions: Hold, Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter. In an emergency, the action and appropriate direction is announced to students and staff, who are trained in the different actions via safety drills throughout the year.

Safety and security audits are also routinely conducted, both through state requirements and on the district’s own accord.

Moving forward, the district will continue to hold its regular safety meetings and aim to improve in any way it can in order to better protect its students and staff, Crawford said.

“We will continue to do the same thing, and if we come up with some solutions to where we can enhance some of the safety protocols and staffing that we have in our school system, money is no object on that,” Crawford said. “Attention, time and effort is no object. We’ve already spent time and effort, and if we need to spend extra time, we will.”

Crawford said although the grief is not as acute as it is for the affected community, Tyler ISD still feels the pain Uvalde is experiencing.

“We all feel it,” he said. “The educators that are there, the students and educators who tragically lost their lives, we all share in that. It’s just heartbreaking, gut-wrenching — every word that you can use to describe it.”

Now on his 15th year as a superintendent, Crawford recalled a tragedy at West ISD when he was at the helm in 2013. On April 17, 2013, a fertilizer plant explosion destroyed three of the district’s campuses, leveled more than 150 homes, displaced and injured hundreds, and took 15 lives from the community. That was devastating, but the acts in Uvalde were pure “evil” and especially heartbreaking, he said.

“When you start talking about children being subjected to evil like this, it’s just a sad thing,” Crawford said.

Other area districts increase security

Many local school districts have not only publicly shown their support for Uvalde victims and the community, they are also temporarily upping their security presence.

Lindale ISD posted on its Facebook page Tuesday night that it would have “extra police presence surrounding” the campuses “over these last few days of school.”

“Please do not be alarmed if you see more officers than normal. We are taking extra steps of caution for the peace of mind and for the safety of our students and staff,” Lindale ISD said in its post.

Jacksonville ISD on Wednesday morning sent out a statement to let the community know its schools are “a secure place.”

“While Jacksonville ISD mourns and stands with Uvalde CISD, we want to reassure our community that our schools continue to be a secure place for students and staff to feel safe,” the district said. “Our commitment and resolve to school safety remains consistent. We are fortunate to have a strong partnership with our community law enforcement officers, emergency management leadership, and first responders. They work with our own JISD Police Department and we are grateful for their commitment and service.”

The district said it will have an increased patrol presence at its campuses for the rest of this week.

“Although there are no known threats at any of our schools, this will provide additional support over the next few days,” Jacksonville ISD said.

Security was also heightened at Bullard ISD campuses on Wednesday.

“As a district, we will always keep the safety of students and staff a top priority,” said Dr. Jack Lee, Bullard ISD superintendent. “(Wednesday) morning, Bullard ISD Police along with Bullard Police and the Texas Department of Public Safety provided an extra security presence during arrival times as well as the last-day events and activities happening on campuses.”

Additional security will also be present for the high school’s upcoming graduation ceremony set for Friday night.

“As we prepare to celebrate the incredible accomplishments of our graduating class of 2022, we will have an additional security presence for our students, staff, and guests who are attending the graduation ceremony,” Lee said.

Wednesday was the last day of school for Bullard campuses, but the usual last-day excitement about letting out for the summer was not there, Lee said.

“Along with school districts, educators, and families across the nation, our hearts are heavy and our prayers are strong for the Uvalde, Texas community,” Lee said. “Although today was Bullard ISD’s last day of school for the school year, I know firsthand the feeling of sadness that came over myself and other parents as our children exited our vehicles to begin their school day.”

Arp ISD said this is an “unspeakable tragedy” and the district is mourning the “terrible reality” of what happened in Uvalde, while extending condolences to that community.

“We pray for all the individuals affected, which unfortunately is many, and ask others to please do the same,” the district said in a statement. “We, at Arp, America will always take the safety of our children, and staff as our utmost number one priority.”