To set the tone for the upcoming school year, the Center for Safe and Secure Schools (CSSS) gathered first responders, law enforcement and fellow industry personnel together to learn, share insights and get on the same page from the latest legislative updates and mandates.

Held Aug. 1 at Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, the 2025 School Safety Summit was a success, bringing together more than 100 participants, speakers and company and agency representatives.

“After every legislative session, there are different mandates,” CSSS Director Leslie Etheridge said. “New rules came out so we thought it would be beneficial at the beginning of the school year to highlight those changes so organizations and districts can adequately prepare as it relates to safety.”

A highlight of the event was a demonstration by sponsor Campus Guardian Angel, an on-site safety response company that combines drones, a cutting-edge app and elite staff to confront and help contain active shooting threats. Pilots, including one flying remotely from the company’s Austin headquarters, flew the drones inside the building and outside, showing their speed, maneuverability and capability to contain a threat.

The day began with an opening session featuring Legislative and Texas Education Agency updates. Breakouts followed – topics included the rise in teenager overdoses link to synthetic drugs, minimizing trauma during lockdown drills, intruder detection audits, and the role of school transportation in emergency preparedness. Vendors included both agencies like the Harris County Homeland Security & Emergency Management and Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, and business partners such as T-Mobile for Education and 3DCapture Services.

Kingwood Pines Hospital, which offers treatment for mental health issues from children to senior citizens, served as the summit’s Diamond Sponsor.

“You can’t do emergency by yourself. It takes a team of people,” Etheridge said. “Unfortunately – in many cases – people don’t look at safety as an important topic until something happens. People can get complacent, and their focus may go elsewhere. Safety needs to be at the forefront of everybody’s mind all the time because you never know when something is going to happen.”

Etheridge said feedback was positive, especially regarding the speakers and timely information. The goal is to make the summit an annual event, but CSSS has a bigger goal to cast a statewide net for the conference.

“The better we can talk one language and one vision, the result is better when it comes to emergencies,” she said.