Safety & Security

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Plano ISD has adopted as one of its goals the commitment to provide a safe and secure environment for students, staff and visitors. In an effort to accomplish this goal the district provides a comprehensive security program.

The district safety program is designed to provide students, staff and visitors with facilities that meet or exceed standards in fire safety, air quality, hazardous materials management, chemical safety and building safety.

Visitor Guidelines

In Plano ISD, we are proud of our schools and welcome visitors. In order to protect the security of our students and staff and the learning environment at our schools, visitors are requested to conform to the following guidelines:

• All visitors to campuses must report to the school office, present government issued photo ID, sign in, state reason for being on campus and obtain approval from the principal or designee.
• All visitors to school campuses shall wear a visitor name badge provided by the school office.
• Visitors who wish to disseminate information to students or staff must comply with district board policies.
• Visitors may not recruit for fund-raising activities, religious groups, youth groups or political causes when visiting school campuses in accordance with this policy.
• Clergy and other representatives of religious organizations (ministers, rabbis, imams, priests and the like) or youth group representatives may visit with their congregants and have lunch with them, but shall not use the visit to proselytize to others.
• Media representatives shall arrange visits to school campuses with the communications department at the central office.
• Visitors are requested to wear appropriate attire when visiting district schools. [Policy FNCA]
• A request for a parent and/or others to visit a classroom must be approved by the teacher and the principal. Approval shall be subject to the classroom activities scheduled for the day of the requested visit and must be conducted in accordance with district policies.
• Due to privacy issues, videotaping in the classroom by parents is not permitted. Exceptions shall be granted only by the superintendent or designee.
• visitor who fails to comply with any of these guidelines and/or district policies may be prohibited from visiting the school.

Security Procedures

Plano ISD's comprehensive safety and security program includes:

• Uniformed officers who provide traffic safety services on campuses with an indicated need.
• Uniformed officers who provide security and law enforcement services on secondary campuses and at athletic events, socials, proms, fund-raisers and other events as deemed necessary on campus after hours.
• Uniformed officers assigned in a liaison capacity to develop a rapport between students and uniformed officers. The officers also serve as counselors and instructors on matters related to law enforcement.
• Campus Crime Stopper Programs are active on all secondary campuses. The program is administered by students and is designed to teach them the need for citizen involvement in reporting and preventing criminal activity.
• K–9 program that places specially trained dogs on campus to detect the presence of drugs, alcohol or explosive devices. The dogs inspect cars, lockers, classrooms and common areas of the buildings.
• CCTV systems in all schools help administrators monitor the interior and exterior of the building. The systems also are tied into the access control system, so personnel can see persons requesting entrance into the building.
• Access control systems are computer operated and allow personnel to make informed decisions related to admitting visitors.
• All Plano ISD campuses and facilities use an electronic visitor management system. This system, which requires the visitor to present a driver’s license or other acceptable form of government-issued identification, logs the visitor into the building and provides the visitor with a temporary, photo-identification badge to wear while in the building. The visitor management system also checks the visitor’s identification against a nationwide database of registered sex offenders.
• Radio systems provide campus and district-wide communications with a special channel for the joint use of police, fire and district administrators during a crisis.
• All campuses are monitored by computerized intrusion systems. Panic and/or robbery alarms are provided at select locations.
• Criminal history searches are required for applicants for employment, volunteers, mentors and contractors.
• Each cluster (east, central and west) has a security police specialist assigned to manage all issues related to police, security or student safety issues within that cluster.
• Each campus has a copy of the District’s Crisis Management Manual.
• Each campus has an individual security plan.
• Weapons and threat assessment guidelines are in place.

Emergency Procedures

PISD has comprehensive emergency procedure plans in place. The department of safety and security works closely with each campus and local public safety agencies on contingency planning. This partnership stands ready to address any situation that may arise.