SPRING BRANCH, Texas – Spring Branch Independent School District is holding special board meeting Monday night at the Duncan Klussman Education Center to address school safety.
According to the agenda, the board will get a safety and security report from the district police chief. The meeting comes as the district, along with school districts nationwide, deal with a rise in school threats.
FBI Houston told KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry in September there were more than 55 reported school threats in the 40 counties around metro Houston, significantly up from the same time period last year.
Earlier this month, Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Jennifer Blaine sent Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg a letter expressing concern about lack of prosecution against those making false threats.
“Unfortunately, I am writing to express my extreme frustration and concerns with the lack of action by the District Attorney’s office as it pertains to taking charges for students who level these terroristic threats against our schools or our school district,” Dr. Blaine said in the letter. “Your office has either just declined to accept charges or has put up so many roadblocks that appropriate legal action is not being taken. I must ask why.”
KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun received a copy of Ogg’s response to the district.
“First, please note that the Harris County District Attorney’s Office takes terroristic threats, or any other criminal activity, on or around our schools’ campus very seriously,” Ogg said in a letter to Spring Branch ISD. “We rely on the eighty-six law enforcement agencies in Harris County to conduct all criminal investigations about school threats, including collection of evidence, witness statements, etc. After the law enforcement agency completes its preliminary investigation, an offense report must be completed which outlines the evidence that supports their probable cause that a person has committed a crime. The reasonable grounds to suspect that a particular person has committed a crime are absolutely necessary to justify the legal action of filing a criminal charge.”
KPRC 2 reached out to Ogg and Spring Branch ISD for comment on this story.
The special board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Duncan Klussman Education Center at 9016 Westview Drive.