With increased public concern about school safety and the natural disasters that have affected schools in recent years, Plano ISD has a safety plan in place. The plan includes security measures, canine searches, emergency procedures and visitor guidelines. Lesley Range-Stanton, PISD's executive director for communications, said the district has its own police cars that are staffed by off-duty peace officers. She also said the city of Plano, city of Murphy, city of Dallas and Collin County officers also help patrol PISD schools.
Canines
The district has two trained K-9 units that are used for random checks throughout the school year on campuses and other district buildings as well as in response to specific requests by campuses, said Lesley Range-Stanton, PISD's executive director for communications.
Plano began using dogs to search for illicit drugs in the district in 1990 and added a dog that could search for explosives in 1999. Since 2001, PISD has run its own K-9 program, which helped the district save $65,000 within the first year of the program, according to the district's website.
Security
PISD uses the assistance of both uniformed police officers and uniformed school liaison officers to promote safety and help answer questions about law enforcement that students and staff might have.
"The district, in conjunction with the Plano and Murphy police departments, has [10] full-time school resource officers at high school and senior high school campuses," Range-Stanton said. "The district also contracts with local law enforcement officers to provide traffic direction and security services during the officer's off duty hours from their employing agency. "
The district has Campus Crime Stopper Programs on all of its secondary campuses that are student-run and are intended to encourage students to prevent and report any criminal activity they see.
"Since 2011, tips have been received by text message, smart phone apps and web browsers, instead of using the original phone line adopted in the 1990s," Range-Stanton said. "The SRO coordinator receives the tips, responds back with follow-up questions, and disseminates the tip information to the SRO on the particular campus."
Four security specialists are separated into clusters that align with the feeder pattern for the senior high schools, Range-Stanton said. Specialists focus on the facilities and campuses in their cluster to manage any security or safety issues. Overall, the district has a manual for how to handle emergencies, and each individual campus has its own security plan.
Rules for visitors
Visitors are not allowed to wander around the district's buildings. The district's website spells out several guidelines for visitors.
"The district also renovated approximately 50 campus entries to provide a physical barrier that forces visitors to enter the office prior to gaining access to the secure areas of the school," Range-Stanton said. "Additional locking mechanisms in the office were added as well."
Upon arriving on campus, visitors are required to go to the school's office to sign in. Visitors have to provide a driver's license or some other form of government ID with a picture as well as the reason for their visit.
At all facilities, each visitor's identification is checked against a national registered sex offenders database using the RAPTOR electronic visitor management system. Visitors are then given a name badge that they have to wear.
There are limits for visitors while on district property, such as restrictions on recruiting for political causes and proselytizing.
In case of emergency
Located in tornado alley, PISD has had to develop tornado drills to instruct students how to react. Each school's principal is also responsible for finding a safe place for students to go in case of a fire or other emergency that requires evacuation.
"The district has lockdown and other procedures in place that can be activated in the event of an emergency," according to Range-Stanton's statement. "Students and staff conduct multiple emergency
preparedness drills each year, including drills for fire/evacuation, lockdowns and reverse-lockdowns."
In addition, the district has a plan in place for communicating in times of emergencies, even when the phone lines are out.
"The [district's] radio channel would be used any time rapid communication is needed, when communicating with multiple campuses immediately is needed or when other methods of communication are not available," Range-Stanton said.
