Title IV, Part A School Safety State Initiative Website

Safety and Mental Health State Requirements

TxSSC has sent an email to all Superintendents about the upcoming District Audit Reports (the Safety Audit report. To ensure all Superintendents receive the DARtool information, the TxSSC is updating the contact database for all Texas ISDs. Please use the link and access code in the email to complete a brief survey to verify the accuracy of your district contact information.

March 17 Deadline. See TIVA section below in the newsletter.

TAA dated 2.2.23 - Title IV, Part A - LEA Special Data Collection

TxSSC will email Superintendents a link and unique access code to the online District Audit Reporting Tool (DARtool). Districts may begin reporting audit results at any time after receiving the DARtool link and access code. If you have any questions, please contact the TxSSC at txssc_audit_info@txstate.edu. Information due on September 15, 2023.

Information in TEA correspondence. Districts and open-enrollment charters must complete the 2022-2023 survey on or before 5:00 pm (CDT) on Friday, June 2, 2023. For questions related to the school health survey, please email healthandsafety@tea.texas.gov.

PEIMS Discipline Code- If a student discipline results in a change of placement, it will ask if a Behavioral Threat Assessment was conducted.

Errata #1 Notice: 2022-2025 School Safety and Security Formula Grant Program.

• Preaward date changed to June 1, 2022
• Clarified what is meant by expend "all" of your 2019-2021 School Safety and Security Grant funds
• Added vestibules as an allowable activity under Other Allowable Items (after minimal compliance with School Safety Standards Rule has been met)

All Independent School Districts (ISDs) that own, lease, or directly operate/manage facilities are required by Texas Education Code 37.108 to complete safety and security audits of all district facilities.

Districts are required to report specified audit results to the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC)

1. Go to Summary of Finances Report. Under Report, choose "Summary of Finances."

2. Choose the 2021-2022 school year, enter your County District Number or District Name, and then click the submit button.

3. Choose the most recent report and view it as either HTML, PDF, or Excel

4. Find your district's amount on Line 33 - School Safety Allotment 42.168

The District/Charter should report only the total amount received in the School Safety Allotment funds for FY 2022 on the survey. Contact safeschools@tea.texas.gov for questions.

• Allocation Amounts by LEA

• SPAT Grant FAQs

• Retroactive until June 28, 2022
  

• School Safety Standards Overview PPT - AKA Facilities Rules

• Errata #1 Notice: 2022-2025 School Safety and Security Formula Grant Program

• The grant allows for pre-award for items purchased on or after June 1, 2022.
• Cannot use 2022-2025 funds until 2019-2021 School Safety Grant funts are spent down below 15%.
• The grant allows for pre-award for items purchased on or after June 1, 2022.
• Must meet all state requirements before considering other allowable activities (ex. safety vestibule)

• TiVA School Safety State Initiative School Safety Standards Checklist
  

Texas School Safety center has released its Intruder Detection Audit Findings Report for Fall 2022.

TEA Human Trafficking Webinar Series | March 3 | 10:30 am | Technology and Trafficking | Zoom Link

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is officially launching an exciting new tool for survivors of online child sexual abuse. The groundbreaking platform, aptly named, Take It Down, allows users from around the world to submit a case to help remove nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photos and videos depicting a child under 18 years old from the surfaces of participating electronic service providers.

Please share this with the parents and trusted adults in your life and encourage them to do the same, to help us expand on programs like Take it Down and reach even more at-risk teens.

This is an issue that impacts everyone – not just teens – but their parents, teachers, friends and communities as well. Together, we can raise the nation’s awareness about teen dating violence and promote safe, healthy relationships. Check out these resources!

Love is Respect

Family and Youth Services Bureau

Youth.gov

Contact your ESC for Psychological First Aid training. This workshop is designed to teach participants about their role as a provider after a disaster. PFA is also a required training of the members of the Safety and Security Team at each district, district school counselors and mental health professionals, educators and other district personnel as determined by the district. Some ESCs may not offer this course face-to-face.

• In each episode our hosts and expert guests analyze and highlight the challenges and successes of improving Texas youth safety and security. Topics covered to date include bullying, emergency operations planning, child trafficking, the opioid crisis, and more.

2023 Youth Preparedness Camp Team Application Now Available

• Engaging, fun, and effective experience in empowering youth to not only educate and inform their peers and community members about the importance of being prepared, but to serve as a key leader during an emergency!
  
• Free. July 0-13. | Texas State University, San Marcus

• School and community-based youth groups who want to attend camp MUST be in grades 9-12 and submit an application and video that showcases how coming to camp will create a culture of preparedness in their school and/or community. To learn more about Youth Preparedness Camp and application instructions, click here.

  The deadline to apply and submit the video is April 19, 2023 by 12 p.m. CT. Applicants will be notified of their status by April 26, 2023 with next steps for registering, if selected.

  
  

SBOE School Safety Training is available on TEA Learn. Trustees who complete the training receive a certificate of completion from TEA Learn. School districts must maintain verification of completion of the school safety training for each of their trustees. Newly elected trustees who did not complete the training prior to their election have 120 days from the date of their election or appointment to complete the training. For TEA Learn technical support, please use this link: TEA Learn Technical Support. If you have questions about the training, please contact a member of the TEA governance team at (512) 936-1533 or via email at schoolgovernance@tea.texas.gov.

Flashing Lights: Creating Safe Interactions Between Citizens and Law Enforcement is a product of the Texas Community Safety Education Act (Senate Bill 30), passed by the 85th Texas Legislature. The goal of the act is to define the behavior and expectations of citizens and law enforcement during traffic interactions. Click here for the FAQ from Senate Bill 30, Community Safety Education Act. Click here to learn more about the course.

PAX Good Behavior Game is an evidence-based strategy for teaching self-regulation skills.

• Their goal was to train 1200 educators and they are exceeding that goal by 20%.
• They have two programs, one for educators and another for leadership. The program is fully funded for Texans, and includes an app for the game, posters, and other materials. More information can be found at www.texasgoodbehaviorgame.org

Additional information regarding the survey and the link to participate are provided in TEA correspondence. Districts and open-enrollment charters must complete the 2022-2023 survey on or before 5:00 pm (CDT) on Friday, June 2, 2023. For questions related to the school health survey, please email healthandsafety@tea.texas.gov.

The DSHS launched a new website on December 9, 2022. Please note the School Health Programs webpages were redesigned and have a new look. If you have bookmarked the School Health Program or the School Immunizations webpages, please update them with the new links. If you have trouble locating information, please contact school health programs by emailing schoolhealth@dshs.texas.gov.

TEA and HHSC Fentanyl Awareness Toolkits

Say What! Escape the Vape-This digital kit has everything you need to host your own escape room! Participants must escape the clutches of tobacco industry executives in under 30 minutes to avoid being the next guinea pig for new tobacco products!

Vaping and E-Cigarettes: A Toolkit for Working with Youth

YOUR VOICE COUNTS when it comes to preventing substance use in youth. This toolkit teaches effective ways to communicate and make your voice heard. As educators, caregivers, public safety professionals, healthcare professionals, and prevention professionals, we all have a role in preventing onset and escalation of substance use in youth aged 12-18. See Toolkit here.

The intent of this lesson is to bring awareness of the synthetic opioid fentanyl and its devastating impact on individuals, families, and the community. This lesson also provides an important opportunity to educate students about the potency of fentanyl and the dangers of using naloxone (Narcan) as a safety net in the event of an overdose; allowing them to make informed decisions when faced with a fentanyl or substance misuse scenario. Lesson provided by the Texas National Guard Joint Counterdrug Task Force.

The Texas Education Agency Mental and Behavioral Health Team and Project AWARE Texas will be hosting a series of monthly webinars on timely and relevant school mental health topics including substance use/abuse prevention, school and community partnerships, parent engagement, and school safety.

2nd Wednesday of each month from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm (CST) via Zoom. Select the date below to register for each webinar:

March 8, 2023 Topic: Accessing Resources Using the School Mental Health Database

March 8, 2023 | April 12, 2023 | May 10, 2023 | June 14, 2023

The Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) is hosting Restorative Practices for Educators training in various locations around Texas. In this four-hour session, participants will discuss why restorative practices are a proactive and reactive tool that campuses should have in their intervention toolbox. To register for a training, please visit the Restorative Practices for Educators training webpage.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention is now offering ACEs training for educators. To take the training, please visit the ACEs Training Module webpage. For additional information and tools about ACEs, please visit the CDC's ACEs webpage.

March 27, 2023 Suicide Prevention in Schools Flier - ESC 13 - March 27, 2023

Released - Texas State Plan for Suicide Prevention 2023-2028

Road to Recovery is a Trauma-Informed Care master training that is free and accessible online to all Texans via NCTSN.org. The training curriculum is available in English/Spanish.

• Sign up for the learning center on the website to access
• Reach out to Holly if you have further questions Holly.Fullmer@hhs.texas.gov

For more information about TCHATT see this PowerPoint.

Youth Aware of Mental health, also known as YAM, is a school-based program for young people ages 13 to 17, in which they learn about and explore the topic of mental health. YAM is an evidence-based program taking place in classrooms around the world. Students actively engage with the topic of mental health through role-play and student-led discussions.

• Education and Outreach Services | Edu-Services@ttuhsc.edu | (806) 743-3026

“Giving children the tools to understand how to recognize what’s going on with them, then how to respond—especially to be able to calm their bodies down— truly is healing. . . . It could be as simple as 15 minutes in a quiet area to get back to self-regulation. That’s a way to work with a child’s biology instead of working against the child’s biology.” – Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Former California Surgeon General, in a 2020 Edutopia Interview.

See Article Here

Are you looking for resources in your school community to promote mental health and wellness? Explore this tool that includes resources recently identified by ESCs, TEA and partners across the state to support your school, students and their families. Bookmark the site below as resources will be updated on an ongoing basis. https://schoolmentalhealthtxdatabase.org/

• Register now for April 26-28 in San Marcos
• Register on Website

Deadline for LEA data submission March 17, 2023. - TEA is required to collect and publicly report how all LEA Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1 funds are being expended per content areas by Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) and the degree to which progress has been made toward meeting program objectives and intended outcomes. All LEAs that applied for Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1 program funds in 2022-2023 are required to report the information requested. TEA will take a phased-in approach to launch the Title IV, Part A Special Data Collection. During the first phase of the collection, LEAs will provide Title IV, Part A Program Objectives and Intended Outcomes for the 2022-2023 school year. The Federal Program Compliance Division will collect the requested information using the Smartsheet WorkApp system.

• TIVA SSSI Checklist for Writing Program Objectives and Intended Outcomes

• LEA Special Data Collection for Public Reporting · Handbook (1/5/2023)

• WorkApp Submission Instructions Slides
  

• WorkApp Submission Instructions Voiced-Over Presentation
  

• Statewide Training Series webpage.
  

• Updated Title IV, Part A FAQ
• Random Validation Resources
• TEA Title IVA Program Guide
  
• Title IV, Part A Use of Funds One-Pager
• Title IV, Part A: Student Support and Academic Enrichment Website
• Title IV, Part A ESC School Safety State Initiative

Legal Disclaimer: This information in this newsletter is intended solely to provide general information and guidance and reflects the Title IVA School Safety State Initiative current understanding of the topics and applicable state and federal guidance. The content is subject to change as a result of additional information and guidance provided by state and federal agencies with regulatory oversight. ESCs and LEAs may choose to seek legal counsel regarding the information and guidance.