As the new school year hits the road running at full speed, Wylie ISD continues to work diligently for the safety of its students, teachers and staff members.
The Angel Protection security system, which was put into place as a pilot program this past school year, is a security surveillance and alert system that includes security cameras, facial recognition, weapon detection and door locking system that works with local law enforcement.
Craig Bessent, assistant superintendent of school operations for Wylie ISD, describes Angel Protection “like 1,000 eyes all the time watching everything inside and out.”
“An immediate alert is sent in seconds to a human – 911, campus resource officer, two marshals and me. It tracks the target in 5-6 seconds showing who, where and description,” Bessent added.
“Wylie ISD feels very fortunate to be partnering with Angel Protection as the first district in the State of Texas to pilot this program,” said district communications director Jackie Powell.
“We are continually looking for ways to make our campuses more secure and know that this program is an amazing asset for our district as we always keep the safety of our students and staff top priority.”
On April 23, the district hosted a demonstration of the system at the high school for members of the local media, law enforcement, Abilene ISD as well as state representative Stan Lambert.
Due to the highly proactive stance Bessent and Wylie take on campus safety, the district was contacted by Mike Morath, the Commissioner of Education, to pilot Angel Protection. Bessent said in 2022 the groundwork was completed with testing taking place throughout 2023, is now ready to activate for the 2024-25 school year.
Bessent said the security system is only at the high school but will eventually be added to the other campuses over time. This delay is due to the nature of technology and process it takes to install such a system and this takes in the consideration of using current cameras the district already has.
Bessent said Wylie ISD has been staffing for security purposes since 2013, enacting the first school marshal program in Texas with Bessent as the first school marshal in Texas.
By Kristen Johnson