SMCISD school safety protocols discussed at Town Hall

Sierra Martin | Managing Editor

SAN MARCOS — State Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) hosted a Town Hall at Goodnight Middle School in San Marcos CISD three weeks after the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to discuss student safety in the local school district.

The speakers included SMCISD staff members and San Marcos Police Department officers, who spoke about current safety protocols, mental health resources, and plans to improve security for the upcoming school year. 

According to SMCISD Director of Safety Doug Wozniak, the district holds yearly safety training, including a Standard Response Protocol, Crisis Training for active shootings, Defense training, Stop the Bleed Training, and Threat Assessment Training for all staff members. 

The district is looking at improving badge access to doors on campus, making approximately $200,000 improvements in camera upgrades, and continuing with threat assessment protocols. The district will also supply each classroom with a Stop the Bleed Kit, which will hold medical supplies for teachers.

Wozniak said that the district believes in a systematic approach to safety and strives to be good in many different areas. 

“We don’t want to have really hardened schools but not have our staff trained, or have our staff trained and have missing elements as far as security,” said Wozniak. “We believe that if you have good people that are trained and you have good systems that, you’ll do really great things.”

Bob Klett, Assistant Chief of Police for SMPD, said that the department utilizes several local programs to stay up to date on all training. 

“Our partnerships with the school district, our partnership with the ALERRT, the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program, here in San Marcos, also the Texas School Safety Center which is based here in San Marcos,” said Klett. “Those are all tools which help us all together as a community make things better for kids on these campuses.”

SMCISD Superintendent Michael Cardona spoke about how the school district provides mental health support for teachers and children. The district has officers on campuses trained in mental health and Social-Emotional Learning councilors. Cardona said that he thinks there needs to be improvements in funding for mental health to expand treatment accessibility in the area. 

“Mental health is a huge priority for this community and trying to solve that,” said Cardona. “We all stay awake at night and wonder if we can do better, and we can. We can always do better. But there’s not a district that does, I think, what we do, and I put us against anybody in the country, not just the state.”

Cardona said that their model for how School Resource Officers interact with students and how students going through a crisis are assessed and supported to try and keep them “off the criminal justice pathway” are some of the things that set the district apart.

April Chapman, SMCISD Director of Social Emotional Learning and Guidance, said that families must let school counselors know if something is impacting their child’s mental health. 

“At the beginning of the year, we really try to be intentional about training that we do for our staff,” said Chapman. “We do trauma and mental health training every year.” 

Chapman said it is essential to reduce the stigma around mental health, mental illness and suicide. She also said making space for an honest conversation with students is important. 

“We want to make sure we are using the right language when we are talking about [mental health] so we really try to spend time with our teachers and our staff about that part of it and what to look for,” said Chapman.

Chapman said there are multiple mental health professionals in the district and students have access to telemedicine guidance that can help diagnose students and refer them to treatment, all free resources for students. 

Zwiener spoke to the Town Hall and gave updates on state legislation regarding gun use and mental health.

“The place where really no meaningful action has been taken is in terms of who can access guns and where they can carry them,” said Zwiener. “In fact, the legislature has been pretty directly on track of making it easier for more people to carry guns in places with less with less oversight.” 

Among other topics, Zwiener said the legislature is looking towards raising the age to purchase semi-automatic firearms, safe storage laws, and more thorough background checks when purchasing firearms. She also said that the state has provided resources for School Hardening, but people need to think about what they want schools to look and feel like to students. 

Zwiener said that it is essential to expand Medicaid to increase access to mental health resources throughout the state, and people need to continue advocating for change concerning access to mental health and gun control. 

Zwiener encouraged those attending the town hall both physically and virtually not to let anyone in the state and federal government forget about the change they would like to see in the aftermath of the Uvalde tragedy. 

“The critical thing is that if you care about these issues, please stay engaged,” said Zwiener. “Historically, the legislature has a short memory.”

During the Q&A period, community members asked many questions about how the district would handle a tragedy similar to Uvalde and how potential threats are assessed. A full recording of the Town Hall can be found here.