Raptor Helps Calallen ISD Avoid Common School Safety Alerting Pitfalls

In this case study, we’ll review the challenges the district faced—and how Raptor worked with their team to overcome them.

Prior to accepting my position as Safety Administrator at Calallen, I had been a police officer for 14 years. I was involved in a lot of school safety drills, but none were as efficient as what I see with Raptor Emergency Management. It brings more structure and more order, and it also helps our staff better learn the drills—which reduces human error during an emergency.

John Garcia, Safety Administrator, Calallen Independent School District

The Challenges

John Garcia, the Safety Administrator at Calallen ISD, holds a unique perspective when it comes to school safety. With 14 years of experience on the police force—two of which he served as police chief—Garcia has overseen a substantial number of school safety drills. So when he accepted his role at Calallen ISD in early 2023, he was eager to help the school district avoid the challenges and obstacles he’d observed while on the force. These include:

Inefficient drilling & accountability practices

Many schools used a binder of pre-printed rosters to account for students, which created gaps in their safety practices, such as:

Out-of-date rosters
No way to easily account for visitors
Staff would have to remember to bring those binders with them during an emergency

Limited communication during emergencies

With social media and texting, false information begins to circulate as soon as an incident happens—perhaps to the point where concerned parents rush to school. Being able to communicate accurate information about ongoing incidents would help direct the flow of reliable information to all stakeholders as well as enable emergency responders to direct resources.

Lack of a streamlined means of communication for day-to-day incidents

Not every incident requires a lockdown. Having the means for teachers to communicate when they needed support— such as for a student in need of behavior or medical intervention—without causing panic across the school community was important.

How Raptor Helped

Raptor Emergency Management helps CISD bring more structure and order to drilling and emergency response

Raptor Emergency Management’s seamlessly integrated modules helps CISD manage drills, instantly notify first responders, accurately account for individuals, and safely reunify families. And, because Raptor Drill Manager allows them to schedule drills in advance, staff and external participants—such as first responders—are aware of upcoming drills and have the information needed for more effective school safety drills

Group messaging during emergencies helps control the flow of information—assuring staff follow the appropriate safety protocols

Familiarity with the technology and the platform means CISD’s school safety protocols are readily available on any web-enabled device, and staff don’t have to waste time looking for papers and binders or disparate apps.

Maintain clear communications during localized incidents using Team Assist

Everyday situations can escalate quickly without the presence of the appropriate personnel to identify and resolve the issue. The Team Assist feature within Raptor Alert gives CISD teachers and staff the power to request help for situations like student fights, irate visitors, or medical incidents. This sends alerts to a pre-determined group of staff and enables those
involved to chat through group messaging.

Because Raptor Team Assist operates in the same manner as Raptor Alert, CISD staff only had to learn one platform—the same app is used for critical emergencies and
everyday incidents.

With Raptor Team Assist if something localized is going on, you don’t have to activate a school-wide protocol. Through Team Assist, staff can notify certain people, like an administrator or the school nurse. They can assess the problem and if we need to go on the secure or hold. Then we’ll send that out for everyone to know along with a message saying why we’re in this protocol—which helps reduce that panic response people can have to an unexpected alert.

John Garcia, Safety Administrator, Calallen Independent School District

Calallen Independent School District in Texas serves 3,889 students across 7 campuses.

Inefficient drilling &
accountability practices
Limited communication during emergencies
Lack of a streamlined means of communication for day-to-day incidents

Emergency Management

Raptor Emergency Management helps CISD bring more structure and order to drilling and emergency response
Group messaging during emergencies helps control the flow of information—assuring staff follow the appropriate safety protocols
Maintain clear communications during localized incidents using Team Assist

StudentSafe^™ Behavioral Threat Assessment and Early Intervention Software

VisitorSafe™ Visitor Management System

Emergency Management System

Compliance and Training

VolunteerSafe^™ Volunteer Management System

SchoolPass Attendance & Hall Pass Management

DismissalSafe^™ Dismissal Management

PayK12 District-Wide Single Payment Solution

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School Safety Best Practices

School Safety Legislation

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Raptor Helps Calallen ISD Avoid Common School Safety Alerting Pitfalls

John Garcia, Safety Administrator, Calallen Independent School District

The Challenges

How Raptor Helped

John Garcia, Safety Administrator, Calallen Independent School District

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