TxSSC
School Safety Spotlight Awards
Student-Led Groups or Programs
- indicates an overall recipient for fiscal year.
Campus Safety Patrol Program, Brownsville ISD
Student-Led Groups or Programs
The Brownsville ISD (BISD) Campus Safety Patrol Program is a student-led initiative developed in partnership with the BISD Police and Security Department to promote campus safety, leadership, and positive youth engagement. The mission of the program is to foster safety awareness, leadership development, and positive decision-making among students while strengthening relationships between youth and law enforcement. The program empowers students to actively participate in maintaining a safe and structured school environment.
Student participants are selected based on academic performance, attendance, discipline, and motivation. Once selected, students serve in defined roles alongside campus police officers, assisting with arrival and dismissal procedures, lunch monitoring, and campus walkthroughs. The program incorporates a leadership structure, allowing students to take ownership of operations and develop organizational and leadership skills. Strict protocols ensure students are never placed in hazardous situations. Campus police officers train students to recognize potential safety concerns and respond appropriately by reporting to trusted adults.
The Campus Safety Patrol Program is built on a collaborative model that treats students and adults as partners in safety. Students are given meaningful responsibilities, ensuring their voices and participation directly impact campus safety operations. Campus police officers serve as mentors, trainers, and role models, guiding students while fostering trust and mutual respect. Campus leadership and staff play an active role in student selection, supervision, and program reinforcement. Parents are involved through training opportunities and safety presentations on topics such as vaping, bullying, and gun safety. This initiative reinforces the philosophy that campus safety is a shared responsibility and empowers students to be active contributors rather than passive participants.
“I enjoy helping keep everyone safe at school. It makes me feel responsible and proud when I help younger students enter school safely and follow the rules. I also like working as a team with other safety patrol members and being a good role model.”
“What I enjoy most about safety patrol is that it is fun. I can help people cross the road to make sure they get across safely and I enjoy opening car doors for little kids and helping them get to their class.”
“What I enjoy most about the program is being a role model and setting a good example for others.”
“I enjoy helping kids that need help and I like participating in safety patrol because it helps me have good grades. I try hard to get good grades and I respect others. I try hard to be in safety patrol always. And another thing, it has helped me do better in school by helping others, being nice, and has made me want to join a lot more stuff.”
“I like the program because we get to help students.”
“The thing I like about safety patrol is being able to help others because it feels nice to be helpful.”
“The younger students look up to us as role models of the school because we show them to behave well and be kind.”
Legacy Early College High School PBIS Student Leadership Program, Taylor ISD
Student-Led Groups or Programs
The Legacy Early College High School (LECHS) Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) Student Leadership Program is a student-led campus safety and culture initiative with the mission to create and sustain a campus culture where every student feels safe, respected, and valued. Students lead three interconnected components: the Phoenix Store (a campus behavioral reward economy), the BTcoin (BetterTogether Coin) peer recognition program, and the 1+ Daily Shoutouts broadcast system.
While many school safety programs are adult-designed, adult-enforced, and compliance-driven, this program is student-designed, student-operated, and affirmation-driven. Placing students in charge of the Phoenix Store creates invested stakeholders in the campus behavioral economy. BTcoins create a peer-to-peer recognition currency that encourages students to "pay it forward,” and the 1+ Daily Shoutout broadcast transforms a passive daily announcement into a live, personalized recognition platform.
The program is grounded in the evidence-based behavioral framework, School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, implementing key principles including clearly defined behavioral expectations, consistent acknowledgment systems, and universal staff and student participation.
The LECHS model exemplifies genuine youth-adult partnerships. Adults contribute through weekly 1+ Shoutout nominations, identifying students demonstrating specific PBIS behaviors. Students operate the Phoenix Store, manage BTcoin distribution, lead peer nominations, and make decisions about store inventory and recognition priorities. Adults provide a structural framework and consistent participation; students animate the culture and exercise real decision-making power. This interdependence distinguishes the LECHS model from adult-run programs with student helpers — it is a true partnership in which youth and adults each bring irreplaceable contributions to campus safety and climate.
“What I liked most about this project was getting to work with my peers to build the store. I also love seeing how excited everyone gets when they get to purchase something from the cart. It encourages us to practice being great students every day.”
“One of my favorite parts of this whole project has been seeing everyone want to shout out their friends and peers on the morning announcements. Our Phoenix positive behavior system has definitely made our small school even more welcoming and closer. It gave our school the ability to grow, not only for our present phoenix's but for our future phoenixes to come.”
“I think the Phoenix store has motivated a lot of my peers to vocalize their appreciation for one another, especially with the shoutouts during the announcements. I also think it's motivated them to play a more active role on the campus as well in a positive way.”