As you may have seen, the Texas legislature passed several school safety measures in May. The TEA is scheduled to provide additional guidance to schools in late August; in the meantime, Meridian administration is actively working to understand the best options for the school regarding the new law requiring armed personnel (an officer, school marshal, or guardian) on campus. We will follow up with families once we learn more. We want you to know that we take school safety seriously and we want to get it right.
Several physical safety measures are being put into place, including a fence outside of the Design wing at the Mays building. The fence will allow for easy egress in case of fire and gives students space to work outside the classroom. Front doors remain locked, with an intercom system.
Each semester, the school undergoes a series of safety drills to ensure students and staff know the proper procedures for a variety of incidents and emergencies. Meridian follows the Standard Response Protocol.
Drills begin this week with a HOLD drill, in which teachers and students remain in the classroom until an all clear is called. Holds are typically called if there is a need to clear hallways, such as a medical emergency or altercation. If additional information needed to be shared with parents and guardians, an emergency text through “96064” would be shared. Depending on the situation, other communication streams may include a notice on the website, a Pikmykid push notification, an email, and social media posts.