The proposal cites August 2023 as the “deadline to have contractor procured and a final timeline to complete all work required.”

Nineteen children and two adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County, Texas, on May 24, 2022. In the aftermath, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) proposed new school safety standards that include security film installations.

The TEA’s proposed School Safety Standards rule requirements are summarized here. The proposed requirements cite the following:

“Windowed doors on the ground level or windows that are adjacent to or near a door and are large enough to allow someone to enter if broken must be reinforced with entry-resistant film unless within a secured area.”

The TEA defines a secured area as: “A fence or wall that is at least six (6) feet in height and has anti-scaling design features or is eight (8) feet high; and must be well maintained, and if gated, allows for emergency egress.”

The document also cites the implementation and certification timeline for facility upgrades:

• 2022-2023 SY: School systems must certify requirements are met starting with the 2022-23 school [year];
• August 2023: Deadline to have contractor procured and a final timeline to complete all work required.

In terms of maintenance requirements, the “school system must perform maintenance checks twice annually to ensure that the facility components within the rule function properly and as intended.”

In October, the State of Texas Legislative Budget Board approved $400,000,000 to “assist school districts in replacing or upgrading doors, windows, fencing, communications and other safety measures.”

Editor’s Note: Have you seen an increase in security film installations? Please reach out to me at ccollier@glass.com for potential coverage.