The state did safety audits at 23 Fort Worth schools. Four needed corrective action
Four out 23 Fort Worth ISD schools that were assessed in state-mandated intruder audits this year required “corrective action,” according to a report presented at the November meeting of the school board Tuesday.
Details on the audits were only shared during executive session, but Deputy Superintendent Karen Molinar said that the campuses had work orders and training in place to respond to the audit findings.
The findings come just weeks after a person experiencing homelessness entered the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, near downtown Fort Worth, through a faulty door, prompting concern from parents.
District officials said that door has since been fixed and additional security officers have been added to the campus.
In addition to the state audits, schools across the district have been doing daily “door sweeps,” Molinar said in her report, where campus officials check to ensure doors are locked, not propped open and working correctly. But those sweeps are only one step, she added.
“Safety and security is not up to one person on campus,” she said. “It’s not the responsibility of SRO or campus monitor — it’s actually anyone in an instructional facility or Fort Worth ISD building that we ask that when you go into a door, make sure that doors shut behind you (and) that you do not prop doors open.”
NAACP leader calls for more security considerations
Estella Williams, the president of the Fort Worth/Tarrant County NAACP, spoke about safety and security during public comment, urging the district to do more.
“There are problems when you think in terms of the report shared that there was some assessment done out of just a few schools with many problems existing in many schools,” she said. “My concern is it is serious. Do we wait until we are faced with an issue? Or do we take a proactive approach and do something with the matter of safety?”
Beyond door safety, Williams said it is too easy for someone to make it past the front desk by giving the right answers.
“That’s not enough,” she said. “There needs to be a method in place whereby those schools are safe.”
Williams also raised concerns about schools in close proximity to city parks.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 4:49 PM.
