On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the launch of a new statewide school safety program.
The program, Sentinel, was created by the Texas Education Agency’s Office of School Safety and Security.
Sentinel aims to monitor and analyze Texas schools’ emergency detection and response processes and offer improvements. To achieve this, it streamlines Behavioral Threat Assessments into a single reporting mechanism that’s easier for school systems to use.
Additionally, Sentinel will assist state leaders in emergency operations by providing consistent updates to help school staff make quick decisions.
“As a new school year approaches, the safety of students, school faculty, and staff across Texas remains a top priority,” said Abbott.
“To bolster school safety standards, we are launching Sentinel — a new, sweeping system to enhance the safety and security of students and teachers across our great state. This cutting-edge technology is available to all schools in Texas and will expand the state’s threat assessments process, improve real-time communication capabilities, and better safeguard our children, teachers, and school communities.”
Abbott went on to explain that Sentinel is the result of a collaboration between TEA, superintendents, and school safety personnel from across the state.
TEA School Safety and Security Chief John P. Scott thanked Abbott for his backing of the project.
“TEA’s Office of School Safety and Security continues to search for ways to better support the 1,200 school systems in Texas and their efforts in keeping students and staff safe,” said Scott. “The launch of Sentinel represents this continued focus, and I’m grateful for the Governor’s support in getting this critical safety infrastructure off the ground and operational.”
The release of Sentinel comes after Abbott directed TEA Commissioner Mike Morath to create a Chief of School Safety and Security position in 2022. The goal of the position was to focus on improving communication and collaboration between state agencies to create a safer environment within Texas schools.
The governor appointed Scott to the position last September. He has extensive experience in the field, having served as assistant special agent in charge for the United States Secret Service Dallas/North Texas District and as assistant to the special agent in charge for the North Texas Cyber Fraud Task Force, among other positions.
Each school district and open-enrollment charter school in Texas will be required to submit safety data through Sentinel. The program will be provided to schools at no charge.
Dallas ISD, the second largest public school district in the state, came under scrutiny earlier this year after a student allegedly shot another in the leg at Wilmer-Hutchins High School. The shooter had reportedly gotten a handgun past security guards and metal detectors, driving district officials to shore up security protocols.