Safety Upgrades at Killeen Campuses for Upcoming School Year
The further into summer we go, the closer to the start of school we get. With the recent school shooting in Uvalde still making news on a daily basis, school safety remains a top concern, as it should. That includes a discussion of ways to keep our students here in Killeen, Texas safe.
Killeen ISD addressed changes for the upcoming school year earlier this week to the school board.
School Safety
KCEN reports that both Killeen ISD Police Chief Ralph Disher and KISD Safety Director Charles Kelly said that Killeen ISD staff will make sure all exterior campus doors will be closed and locked as required by the Texas Education Agency, something the staff was already doing but said failure to do so would result in disciplinary actions.
Door peepholes are also being installed in some doors where deliveries are made. KISD Spokeswoman Taina Maya told 6 News that peephole requests have been made in the past by cafeteria staff and has been re-addressed following the school shooting in Uvalde. The school district has moved up that request.
Visible Room Numbers and K9 Units
Numbers will also be placed on the exterior windows of the classrooms to help in identifying the room for first responders in case of an emergency.
K9 units that specialize in detecting weapons and drugs will also be added to the district, something Chief Disher said was needed.
"In light of some of the cases we've had this last year in recovering weapons from campus, we've felt that that was a need. When we start this school year, we will actually have two K9s in place. One for narcotics and one in weapons."
Currently KISD employs 30 officers for the 51 campuses. Disher says he'd love to have one officer per school, but adding more recruits to the district has been a challenge.
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