The district's first priority in an emergency situation is always the safety and security of students and staff, and parents will be alerted as soon as possible. Jarrell ISD has a variety of communication tools that are used to notify parents in case of an emergency. They range from texts to automated phone calls to emails or news alerts, our website, and social media. One of the most important things parents can do is to make sure their child's school has the most current contact information, including cell phone, emergency contacts, home phone and home address. You can review and update contact information by logging into Ascender. 

All of our campuses have secure entrance-ways that require visitors to enter a school through one main entry point, sign in and get permission to access the front office and the rest of the campus.

Avoid | Deny | Defend™  has been developed as an easy to remember method for individuals to follow and works in tandem with our Standard Response Protocol.  

Since 2002, the  Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT)™ Program at Texas State University has been used to train law enforcement officers across the nation in how to rapidly respond to dangerous active threat situations.  This has resulted in shortened response times. Georgetown Police Department is working now to do ADD training on our campuses to improve safety response measures for all.

• During an active threat situation, such as an active shooter-type attack, we use a Lockdown Response.

• Staff and students lock doors, turn off the lights and get out of sight.

• All staff are empowered to take action to protect themselves and others by using Avoid (get away from the danger, Deny (block entry) and Defend (protect yourself and others)

SRP changed the wording from Lockout to Secure. While the elements of these drills are nearly identical, you will notice that signage and wording in our correspondence have been altered to reflect this change.  

The differentiation between Secure (formerly known as Lockout) and Lockdown is a critical element in SRP.

A Secure (Lockout) recovers all students from outside the building, secures the building perimeter and locks all outside doors. This would be implemented when there is a threat or hazard outside of the building. Criminal activity, dangerous events in the community, or even a vicious dog on the playground would be examples of a Secure (Lockout) response. While the Secure (Lockout) response encourages greater staff situational awareness, it allows for educational practices to continue with little classroom interruption or distraction.

A Lockdown is a classroom-based protocol that requires locking the classroom door, turning off the lights and placing students out of sight of any corridor windows. In classrooms with high volumes of glass, students and staff are taught to evacuate away from the threat. Student action for students who remain in traditional classrooms during Lockdown is to remain quiet.

Anyone who suspects that a child has been or may be abused or neglected has a legal responsibility to report to law enforcement or Child Protective Services (CPS).

Any District employee, agent, or contractor has an additional legal obligation to submit a report to law enforcement or CPS, as applicable. Failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect is a criminal offense. Do not try to investigate suspicions; a trained investigator will evaluate the child’s situation.

You cannot delegate this responsibility to another person. All people who suspect child abuse or neglect must make their report.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a central place to report:

• Child abuse and neglect.

• Abuse, neglect, self-neglect, and exploitation of the elderly or adults with disabilities living at home.

• Abuse of children in child-care facilities or treatment centers.

• Abuse of adults and children who live in state facilities or are being helped by programs for people with mental illness or intellectual disabilities. These reports are investigated by HHSC Provider InvestigationsExternal Link, not DFPS.

Anyone who has a reasonable cause to believe a child, or person 65 years or older, or an adult with disabilities is being abused, neglected, or exploited must report it to DFPS according to Texas laws.

A person who reports abuse in good faith is immune from civil or criminal liability. DFPS keeps the name of the person, making the report confidential. Anyone who does not report suspected abuse can be held liable for a misdemeanor or felony.

Time frames for investigating reports are based on the severity of the allegations. Reporting suspected abuse makes it possible for a family to get help.

Report Abuse

1-800-252-5400

• In 2022, our school board approved an additional School Resource Officer who will help provide important coverage throughout the district.  We also added a Safety Administrator to oversee all aspects of safety and ensure our buildings are secure and our safety processes are consistent across the district. 

• Our Technology Department added additional cameras and new door locks at campuses. We are also increasing security in our vestibule areas at each campus.

• Jarrell ISD will continue to require all classroom doors be locked at all times. In addition, this year, we will conduct frequent random checks to ensure that teachers maintain those locked doors. We will also do routine sweeps of all exterior doors to ensure they are safe and secure and not be propped open for any reason.

• All district employees and students will be required to wear IDs at all times. 

• Each school will conduct a set of safety drills throughout the year to practice responding to various scenarios. Those drills include fire drills, evacuation, lockdown, and sheltering in place.

• Jarrell ISD offers a "tip line" through our Anonymous Alerts system. The alert system is available to students, parents, families, community members, and staff. You can download the app or log onto our website www.jarrellisd.org to report to the district issues related to bullying/cyberbullying, drugs, suicidal concerns, weapons, a teacher-student relationship, and more. All reports are anonymous.