From e-motorcycles, mental health to armed guards, districts prepare for new school year

KATY, Texas (KTRK) -- From training and new technology to policies about handling the growing e-bike use, it's not just teachers getting ready for the new school year.

With Katy ISD days away from a new year, the crossing guards are getting ready. A job that requires even more attention. Not just from the oncoming drivers, but also from the ones in the crosswalk.

In July, the district reminded parents that while e-scooters and e-bikes are fine, e-motorcycles are not.

"We're making sure that if an administrator or someone sees that, they're going to deal with that from a discipline standpoint," Katy ISD police chief David Rider explained. "We'd rather handle that at that level than get law enforcement involved."

An issue not just at Katy ISD. On Tuesday, Houston ISD Police Chief Shamara Garner cautioned kids to avoid the electric vehicles if it puts them in the road.

"If you cannot operate it safely, then I recommend you don't operate it at all," Garner said.

School safety experts said it's also about where kids are storing the devices.

"We recommend the schools move those away from the buildings because we know, as with any type of electric vehicle, electric bike, in case there is a fire, you can't extinguish that fire," Harris County Department of Education safety director Leslie Etheridge said.

Etheridge said districts are also working to get more officers on campuses. Something the lawmakers required a few years ago with House Bill 3, but Etheridge said many schools aren't able to do that.

"Because of funding, many schools are having problems still complying with that mandate," Etheridge said.

While Katy ISD said it has either an officer or armed guard at every campus, Rider says he's hoping lawmakers provide funding for mental health. The district has a crisis intervention team, but he says they and many other districts could do more.

"That's a big part of safety and security nowadays that we didn't use to talk about ten years ago," Rider explained. "It was all about response to a threat. Now, we focus a lot on social and emotional crisis."

Experts said another safety emphasis for this school year is cardiac arrests. Two years ago, HISD officials said Marshall Middle School student Landon Payton collapsed on campus. Questions were raised about the AED device used on him.

After that, lawmakers passed a bill requiring districts to develop cardiac arrest policies.

"They have to create procedures quickly for calling 911," Etheridge explained. "How they're going to begin CPR, retrieve AEDs, and direct responders when it comes to those types of events, especially when it comes to after-school programs."