Safety and security have long been a high priority in Spring ISD. “Providing a safe, secure and respectful learning environment for students and staff” is second only to student achievement on the district’s list of priorities in the Five-Year Education Plan.

As the nation turns a concerned eye on school safety and security due to recent tragic events at schools nationwide, Spring ISD has received numerous local, national and international requests from people wanting to see how the District’s safety measures work. Those measures include a visitor tracking system, secure vestibules, Radio Frequency Identification on elementary school buses, metal detectors, security cameras, a 45-man police department and Automatic External Defibrillators.

Visitor Tracking System – Spring ISD piloted the visitor tracking system developed by Raptor Technologies in 2002 and was the first school district to install the system in schools in August 2003. Visitors who enter a Spring ISD campus and the Gordon M. Anderson Leadership Center, are required to submit their driver’s license for scanning. As soon as a license is scanned through the V-Soft program, the school and the Spring ISD police department are notified if the visitor is a registered sex offender. If the visitor is approved for entry, a name tag is printed for the visitor to wear while on campus.

Secure Vestibules – Spring ISD currently has 11 new and renovated schools with secure, locking vestibules. They are Burchett, Cooper, Hirsch, Lewis, McNabb, Meyer, Salyers, and Winship elementary schools; Clark Intermediate; Bailey Middle School; and Carl Wunsche Sr. High School. Dekaney High School will open in August 2007 with a secure vestibule also. This safety feature has been paid for with money approved by Spring ISD tax payers through bond referendums passed in 2001 and 2003.

RFID on Buses – Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers on elementary school buses scan student ID badges as students get on and off their buses. This allows school principals, transportation supervisors and the Spring ISD police to identify when and where elementary students board and exit their school buses.

Metal Detectors – Spring ISD has two walk-through metal detectors at each secondary school that are used to perform random searches two to three times each week at each campus. Metal detectors are also used randomly to search school buses.

Spring ISD Police Department – With 45 licensed officers assigned throughout the district, the Spring ISD Police Department combines state-of-the-art technology with good, old-fashioned people power to enhance security throughout the district, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Detective Emmy – A Labrador named Emmy has joined the Spring ISD Police Department. Emmy is trained to detect marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, many prescription drugs, alcohol and gunpowder. She replaces Detective Barkley, who retired this fall.

Security Cameras – The Spring ISD Police Department’s high-tech communications center has the capability of hearing and seeing inside each Spring ISD campus. Over 1,000 cameras monitor activity 24 hours a day.

Defibrillators – Spring ISD has 50 Automatic External Defibrillators districtwide: one at each elementary, two at each middle school, two at the Westfield Ninth Grade Center, four at Westfield High School, four at Spring High School, two at Carl Wunsche Sr. High School, three at the Spring ISD Police Department, and four at additional Spring ISD facilities. Dekaney High School will open with four AEDs.