Effective Sept. 23, a Texas Education Agency rule requires schools to prepare site-specific security and medical plans for extracurricular events expected to draw over 250 people; events with more than 1,000 attendees require at least one uniformed peace officer per 1,000.
The rule covers extracurricular activities on property owned, leased or controlled by school systems, including proms and graduations. For events above 250 people, schools should consider armed security, but that threshold does not automatically require an officer; options include peace officers, school marshals and certain trained employees or commissioned security personnel. Plans must cover emergency equipment, communications, crowd control, evacuation, weather, injury response and an on-site incident commander. For rivalry events, or events where district intelligence or public information points to a propensity for violence or confrontation, schools must provide an appropriate number of uniformed peace officers.
The same TEA update covers mandatory drills and allows the education commissioner to assign a conservator when a school system fails to comply with safety requirements or address issues found through TEA monitoring, assessments or audits. The rule comes amid renewed attention after 17-year-old Austin Metcalf was fatally stabbed at a Frisco ISD track meet by another teen, Karmelo Anthony; the article says that case is separate from the rule.
