Current through Reg. 49, No. 52; December 27, 2024
(a) In accordance with Texas Education Code
(TEC), §37.1083 and §37.115, each school district and open-enrollment
charter school shall submit information requested by the Texas Education Agency
(TEA) in their efforts to monitor the implementation and operation of school
district safety and security requirements. TEA may review school district
records as necessary to ensure compliance with this section and TEC, Chapter
37, Subchapters D and G.
(b) The
following words and terms, when used in this section, have the following
meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Discipline record--a student's cumulative
record of formal disciplinary actions reported through the Public Education
Information Management System from the date that the student was first enrolled
in a public school and that the local education agency has retained in
accordance with the records retention policy.
(2) School system--a term that has the
meaning assigned by §
61.1031(a)(6) of
this title (relating to School Safety Requirements).
(3) Sentinel--TEA's formal school safety
system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute school safety and
security information.
(c) Sentinel serves as a repository for all
safety and security-related data submitted to TEA by school districts,
open-enrollment charter schools, campuses, and other entities.
(d) Any document or information collected,
identified, developed, or produced relating to the monitoring of school
district safety and security requirements under this section is confidential
under Texas Government Code, §
418.177 and §
418.181, and not
subject to disclosure under Texas Government Code, Chapter 552.
(e) Each school system shall report the
following information through Sentinel.
(1)
Behavioral Threat Assessments (BTAs).
(A)
Effective August 1, 2025, when conducting a BTA under TEC, §37.115,
members of a threat assessment team shall utilize the threat assessment
instrument, manual, and field guide in Sentinel, which are consistent with the
model policies published by the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC).
(B) Effective August 1, 2025, school systems
shall utilize Sentinel to securely transfer under TEC, §25.036, any threat
assessment conducted on a student to a receiving school system when a student
transfers to a new school district. All BTAs for a student are subject to the
transfer requirement. Any BTAs conducted prior to August 1, 2025, that are
associated with a student transfer shall be uploaded into Sentinel in a manner
determined by TEA.
(2)
District Vulnerability Assessments (DVAs).
(A)
In accordance with TEC, §37.1083, the TEA Office of School Safety and
Security will monitor the implementation of requirements related to school
safety and security, to include conducting detailed vulnerability
assessments.
(B) Any documentation
requested by TEA for a DVA must be uploaded to Sentinel.
(3) Emergency management.
(A) On or before June 30th of each year, all
school systems shall input their upcoming school year calendar into Sentinel.
Any changes to the school year calendar shall be updated in Sentinel within
three business days after approval by district leadership.
(B) On or before June 30th of each year,
school systems must verify that all district facilities listed in Sentinel
reflect the correct address and campus emergency contact information.
(C) If a school system closes for a localized
emergency, closure information must be immediately recorded in
Sentinel.
(D) All school systems
shall submit information related to events requiring an emergency response,
including the discovery of a firearm on a campus in accordance with TEC,
§37.1083(h)(1), in the Sentinel portal. This is inclusive of notifications
regarding a bomb threat or terroristic threat, as outlined in TEC,
§37.113. Submission of information in the Sentinel portal does not
substitute the requirement for local law enforcement notification of certain
activities in TEC, §37.015.
(E) Upon completed review of a school
system's multihazard emergency operations plan, the TxSSC may upload a copy of
that plan, including all required appendices, to the Sentinel portal.
(F) Subsequent to a school system
superintendent change, the direct contact information of the superintendent (or
person acting in that capacity) must be updated in Sentinel within three
business days of a corresponding board meeting.
(4) Intruder Detection Audits (IDAs).
(A) In accordance with TEC, §37.1084,
the TEA Office of School Safety and Security will establish a school safety
review team in each region served by a regional education service center. Teams
shall annually conduct on-site general intruder detection audits of school
district campuses in the team's region.
(B) Any documentation requested by TEA for an
IDA must be uploaded to Sentinel.
