Following the May 18 Santa Fe school tragedy, the Texas Society of Architects created the School Safety Work Group to address several issues identified by state leaders as immediate needs to prevent similar future events. The group is working with the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University in San Marcos. As well as, gathering information requested by House and Senate committees and developing tools for teachers, public school officials, first responders, security and law enforcement professionals, and other groups working to address school safety and security issues.

Here’s where our initial research and deliberations have taken us, generally speaking.

The Society’s Position

The following are some recommended resources that the group has identified as part of this effort.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

• School Violence: Data and Statistics

Department of Defense

• Physical Security & Antiterrorist Design Guide For DoDEA Educational Facilities (Department of Defense Education Activity, Version 3, July 2017)

Department of Education

• Building Blocks to School Safety: A Toolkit for Schools and District for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans, Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (Office of Safe and Healthy Students Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center, 2014)

• Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings From the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2015-2016 (National Center for Educational Statistics, July 2017)

• Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2017 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017)

Department of Homeland Security

• Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operation Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence (United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, July 2018)

• Risk Management Series: Primer to Design Safe Schools Projects in Case of Terrorist Attacks (Federal Emergency Management Agency, December 2003)

National Fire Protection Association

• NFPA 3000 (PS): Standard for an Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program (April 2018)