Dear High School Families,
The most important thing HISD does each day is keep your student safe while they are at school. At each high school campus, HISD employs a layered approach to campus safety that brings together campus-based HISD PD officers, the Raptor Technologies school security platform, and most importantly, the vigilance of our staff and students. All of these pieces work together to keep your students safely in school, and dangerous contraband out of school.
As a District, we constantly evaluate the tools we have in place. District leaders and HISD PD leadership have determined weapons detection systems in our high schools are a necessary tool to keep our high school campuses safe and secure.
When fully implemented, all students, staff, and visitors entering all high school campuses will be screened by the Open Gate weapons detection systems. In order to ensure minimal disruption to student learning, we will begin in January and February by implementing weapons detection at one new campus each week. Implementation will begin at campuses where firearms have previously been found. Beginning in March, we will add multiple campuses each week, until all high school campuses have weapons detection systems fully operating by May 2025.
Our goal is to ensure that these systems do not interfere with the learning environment at our campuses, but there are things that will be different once we implement these systems:
- All students will need to enter their building through designated entry points each morning. This may be a change from current practice.
- Students, staff, and visitors will need to pass through the screening towers and remove their laptops from their bags or backpacks.
- When the system identifies a potentially prohibited item, the individual will receive secondary screening, typically a more thorough review of their backpacks, pockets, and other personal belongings.
Families at our high school campuses will be notified 1-2 weeks before weapons detection systems are implemented at their campus. That communication from your student’s principal will include all of the following:
- An invitation to a campus community meeting to answer your questions before the system is formally implemented.
- A detailed explanation of the new entry processes for students arriving in the morning, and visitors to the school during the day.
- More information about items other than weapons or contraband that may trigger secondary screening that students may want to avoid bringing to school.
All campuses will practice the new entry protocols before the weapons detection system is implemented at their campus to minimize delays and disruptions once the system is installed.
Please review the attached Frequently Asked Questions document for answers to some initial questions, and plan to attend your campus’ information session when it is scheduled.
Sincerely,
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 Chief Shamara Garner HISD Police Department |
