Local first responders and emergency personnel met with Katy ISD and school principals for the 2025 Annual First Responder Forum that emphasizes collaboration throughout the area to best protect students and staff.
As Katy ISD gears up for a new school year, safety is always a focus. Last week, local first responders and emergency personnel from across the area joined the 2025 Annual First Responder Forum, where the district and local safety authorities collaborate on emergency response strategy to best ensure the safety of students and staff.
Strategic Planning Updates
“Effective emergency preparedness and response rely heavily on strong partnerships our District maintains with first responder agencies,” says Katy ISD Superintendent Ken Gregorski. “Each organization plays a vital role in risk assessment, crisis communications, response coordination and a range of recovery efforts that support our schools and the greater community.”
Hosted by the district’s Office of Emergency Management, the forum highlighted strategic safety planning, updates on Katy ISD’s standard response protocols and information on emerging technologies and new state legislation pertaining to school safety.
Katy ISD’s Annual First Responder Forum builds upon several prior initiatives of Katy ISD designed to strengthen school safety. In January of this year, the district hosted a Department of Justice (DOJ) Critical Incident Review presentation focused on the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde. The event provided local law enforcement, educators and emergency personnel with observations and recommendations from the DOJ independent review, including best practices in leadership, incident command, trauma response and public communication.
Exceeding State Requirements
Katy ISD exceeds state requirements as every campus is staffed with armed police officers and/or security personnel, equipped with integrated alert systems, 24/7 surveillance, and routinely conducts safety drills. Designated staff at each campus receive extensive training in the latest mental health resources and crisis intervention techniques. Additionally, Katy ISD police collaborate with contracted K9 units specializing in narcotics and weapons detection to perform random inspections at secondary schools, further enhancing campus security.
Missy Dodds, a survivor of the Red Lake school shooting, delivered a powerful keynote address highlighting the critical importance of trauma-informed preparedness in schools. She underscored the role of the entire community in fostering safety by building strong, healthy connections between students, educators and the broader community. She advocates for a comprehensive, integrated approach to school safety that includes interrelated components like mental/behavioral health, health and wellness, safety and security, culture and climate, legal policy and emergency management.
“At Red Lake, we had amazing security things, but we forgot about the child,” Dodds says, referring to the school shooter. “I didn’t understand what a complicated life that this student, whom I couldn’t bond with, had lived.”
As part of Katy ISD’s ongoing commitment to school safety, district police and crisis management teams work closely with external law enforcement partners to regularly train and prepare for a wide range of potential threats and scenarios.
