Safety First

By Donnie A. Lucas

As part of an effort to increase security at both Albany ISD campuses, the school board hired an experienced local resident as the director of school safety and security.

Retired DPS officer and current Shackelford County Constable Xavier Perez took the position over the summer to help secure both campuses during the school day and at some extracurricular functions.

“My job is not to necessarily interact with students, but to make sure both campuses are safe from harm,” Perez said. “I was not hired as a resource officer, so I will have limited contact with the students, although they will see me present on both campuses.”

He noted that he will not be involved with student discipline, which will continue to be handled by school administrators.

Perez was present during a series of safety drills conducted last Friday on both campuses, designed to practice procedures by students and school personnel for a variety of potential circumstances.

“The drills went well on both campuses,” Perez said. “There were a few issues mostly limited to problems with the intercom system at the secondary campus, which the administrators are aware of and which will be corrected.”

The officer said that he will not follow a regular routine of when he will be on a campus.

“I’m trying to cover both areas,” he said. “There will not be set pattern as to when I’m at a particular campus. I will randomly alternate between them.”

Perez said that in case of a security emergency, the first call should be made to local law enforcement by calling 911.

“I will be notified through the school offices if I’m needed,” he said. “If anyone sees something that seems wrong or strange, they can call the school office, and I will be sent to check it out.”

Part of the increase in school security ordered by the governor and mandated by the Texas Education Agency are weekly checks of all doors on campus.

“I will be checking every exterior door to determine if it is closing and locking properly,” Perez said. “The school is required to send in a weekly audit on the condition of exterior doors and if they are functioning properly.”

The officer will also be checking doors through the week to determine if new school policy of keeping doors locked is being maintained.

Perez said that he will continue in the role of county constable as much as his new position allows outside of the school day.

The constable primarily serves civil papers in the county.

While he reported that he spoke to juniors and seniors about the new car permit tags that must be placed on all vehicles, Perez clarified that he is not on campus to act on students’ driving habits unless that involves a hazard to other students.

“I hope everyone gets comfortable with me floating around throughout the day,” he said. “I’m here to make everyone feel more at ease about safety at the schools.”

Superintendent Jonathan Scott said that Perez will provide a set of trained eyes and ears on a daily basis to assure safety on school campuses as much as possible.

“Teachers and staff have been trained about new security measures,” he said. “It is a top priority, but this will be Mr. Perez’s main responsibility, whereas teachers and staff have other duties as well throughout the day.”

Scott added that local law enforcement and first responders are still critical to the safety of the school, students and employees.

“The board felt that Mr. Perez would provide a quicker response in the a security issue,” he said. “We live in a big county and officers may be scattered around. Having our own director of security will save us precious minutes in response time.”

Perez retired as a DPS officer in August 2020 after serving 30 years in the role. His family has lived in Albany since 1994.

He and his wife, Belinda, have two children who attended Albany schools. Blake is an MHMR counselor in San Angelo and daughter Savannah Patterson works in administration at a hospital in Oklahoma City.

Belinda Perez works in the tax and vehicle registration office in the county courthouse and has served as Albany’s municipal judge for over 10 years.