Safety & Emergency Management
The New Caney ISD is committed to the safety and security of all students, staff, and visitors. The safety and security of our facilities ensures that staff and students have a safe environment to work. We are continually working to improve our approach to safety in order to provide the best environment for everyone at New Caney ISD.
Safe & Secure Audits
Texas Education Code §37.108 states: “At least once every three years, each school district shall conduct a safety and security audit of the district’s facilities. To the extent possible, a district shall follow safety and security audit procedures developed by the Texas School Safety Center or a comparable public or private entity”.
Attention to safety and security should not be thought of as an annual or a once-every three year “audit” event. Districts are encouraged to integrate ongoing safety and security assessments into everyday activities. This includes planning, training, and drilling of emergency procedures.
The model safety and security audit procedures developed by the Texas School Safety Center are intended for use by districts to conduct a “self-assessment” of safety and security in their facilities (e.g. No “certified” auditors needed). Neither the Texas Education Code nor administrative rules require that school district personnel conducting the audit hold a specific certification.
Texas Education Code §37.108 states: “A school district shall report the results of the safety and security audit conducted under Subsection (b) to the district’s Board of Trustees and, in the manner required by the Texas School Safety Center, to the Texas School Safety Center”.
Presentation of the audit results to the district’s Board of Trustees may be conducted in a closed session. As these reports may contain specific vulnerabilities of a school, facility or district, it is important to limit the sharing of this information.
Audits should focus on the identification of facility hazards, access control procedures, Emergency Operations Plan, drills and exercises, and school climate. Data collected from the audits should be used to assess the safety and security of a district’s facilities and address any concerns that may have been discovered. In addition, data should be reflected in the district Multi-Hazard Emergency Operations Plan.
Emergency Operations Plan
The New Caney ISD Safety and Emergency Management Department has developed, implemented and administers comprehensive district wide safety and crisis response emergency management plans. A comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) has been developed to address the four phases of emergency management: prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. New Caney ISD has an all-hazard Emergency Operations Plan and Occupant Emergency Plans which include district- and campus-specific incident responses. Various drills such as fire drills, severe weather drills, and intruder drills are examples of measures taken by campuses to prepare students for an emergency.
The TEC §37.108 requires each district's EOP address mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The planning phase however does not stop with the development of an EOP; rather, it is an ongoing process. Once the EOP is in place the drilling and training components of emergency management begin to identify areas in need of improvement, clarify member roles, and improve coordination. The Safe and Secure Committee will review the District Level Emergency Operations Plan as needed. Occupant Emergency plans will be updated annually by campus administration and turned in to Director of Facilities and Energy Management.
Fire Safety
These safety tips address the most frequent fire/life safety deficiencies observed by inspectors in public schools. Use these tips as a safety checklist to greatly reduce the chance of preventable fires.