Safe and Supportive School Program Update

Overview:

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has established the Division of Safe and Supportive Schools to support local educational agencies (LEAs) in the establishment and implementation of the Safe and Supportive Schools Program (SSSP) that was established by Senate Bill (SB) 11, 86th Regular Legislative Session, 2019). In accordance with Texas Education Code (TEC), §37.115, the division is drafting rules and providing guidance and training resources to support LEAs with their implementation efforts to address the requirements of the statute. The division also manages and supports LEAs in the submission of the required SSSP data. Questions regarding the SSSP can be submitted to the division at this new email address: safeandsupportiveschoolprogram@tea.texas.gov.

Mandatory Data Reporting

The TEA will continue to support LEAs with the legislatively required reporting of the activities of their SSSP teams in accordance with TEC, §37.115(k), through a Qualtrics survey. The survey for the 2021-2022 school year will collect the same data that was collected in previous surveys (2019-2020 and 2020-2021). The survey for the 2021-2022 school year submission will be released on June 1, 2022, with a response due to the agency by June 30, 2022. Here is a sample copy of the 2021-2022 SSSP Survey. 

Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, LEAs will be required to report SSSP team activities by campus as required by TEC, §37.115(k). The data reporting window will be June 1, 2023, through June 30, 2023. Here is a sample copy of the 2022-2023 SSSP Survey. It is strongly recommended that LEAs develop procedures for each team to collect, maintain, and store data regarding threat reports and threat assessment outcomes that align to these data reporting instruments developed by the TEA. The Division of Safe and Supportive Schools will develop tools and resources to support this recommendation, and these will be made available to LEAs during the fall semester of the 2022-2023 school year.

Commissioner of Education Rules

The following rules related to SB 11, 86th Regular Legislative Session, 2019, and SB 168, 87th Regular Legislative Session, 2021, which address the physical and psychological safety of members of the school community, are currently being drafted. 

• The mandatory school drills rule is projected to become effective on May 17, 2022. This rule provides guidance and best practices for conducting school drills. 
• The active threat exercises rule entered the public comment period on March 25, 2022. The proposed rule can be viewed and commented on through the Commissioner’s Proposed Rule page. 
• The SSSP rule is in the drafting process and will address the establishment and operation of SSSP teams. The division will gather input and stakeholder feedback on the SSSP rule throughout the drafting process.