817-625-2700

GSFT School Safety Certification

The Texas DPS school safety certification course

Government Code §411.1901 defines the training behind every Guardian-style program in Texas: a 15–20 hour school safety certification course, taught by a qualified handgun instructor holding the DPS school safety instructor certification, to school employees who hold a License to Carry. This page explains exactly what the course is — and is not.

Schedule Training for Your District or register for an open class at our facility

The statutory curriculum

The course must train participants in four areas, set by statute:

AreaWhat it means in practice
Protection of studentsDecision frameworks that put student safety first in every scenario, including when not to engage.
Interaction with first respondersWhat responding officers see, expect, and need from an armed staff member — trained by instructors with law-enforcement training backgrounds.
Denying entryClassroom and facility tactics for keeping an intruder out — the highest-value minutes of any incident.
Accuracy under duressLive-fire qualification and stress-inoculated shooting, because range-calm accuracy is not incident accuracy.

How we deliver it

Plain-language disclosures

Official source: Texas DPS — Handgun Licensing Instructor Certifications

Open classes

Register for an open class at our facility

Most of our certification training is scheduled privately by districts. We also run open classes at our North Richland Hills facility for individuals who need a seat sooner than their district has one scheduled. Pick a date below to register and pay online.

Before you book: this course is for school district and charter school employees who hold a current Texas License to Carry and are authorized by their employer to attend. It is not public firearms instruction. Bring your License to Carry — see the student resources page for the full list of what to bring.

Calendar not loading? Book online now on our scheduling page, or call 817-625-2700 and we will get you on the roster.

Training five or more people? A private session at your campus is usually the better value — request a district proposal instead.

Frequently asked questions

Who can take the DPS school safety certification course?
Employees of a school district or open-enrollment charter school who hold a current Texas License to Carry, selected by their employer. The course exists so a school system can train the staff it has chosen to authorize — it is not public firearms instruction. Eligible employees may either attend a session their district schedules privately or register individually for one of the open classes we hold at our facility.
How long is the course?
By statute, not less than 15 and not more than 20 hours of instruction (Government Code §411.1901(b)) — most district engagements run it across two days. Districts can also choose extended training beyond the certification course under their own local rules and recommendations, and many do; we build those extensions into the proposal.
What does the course cover?
The four statutory areas: protection of students; interaction of license holders with first responders; tactics for denying an intruder entry into a classroom or school facility; and methods for increasing a license holder’s accuracy with a handgun while under duress.
Who issues the certification?
The course is delivered and documented by a DPS-certified school safety instructor, and completion is submitted to DPS, which records it as a school safety endorsement on the participant’s Texas License to Carry — one of three possible LTC endorsements. DPS certifies individual instructors to teach the course; companies are not “DPS-certified.” Authority to carry on campus comes from the endorsement paired with your district’s written authorization.
Does the endorsement expire?
It can — because it rides on the License to Carry. If the LTC lapses, even by a single day, DPS drops the school safety endorsement, and regaining it requires retaking the initial certification course and resubmitting to the state. Keeping the LTC current is therefore a program-management item, not just a personal one. Beyond that, the statute sets no requalification interval for trainees; districts set requalification policy, and we recommend — and deliver — recurring proficiency and scenario training as part of a standing program.
Can I register on my own, without waiting for my district to schedule a class?
Yes — that is what our open classes are for. Roughly nine in ten of our sessions are booked privately by a district, but we also run scheduled classes at our North Richland Hills facility that you can register and pay for individually. You still need to be a school employee holding a current Texas License to Carry, with your employer’s authorization behind you, since campus carry authority comes from the school board rather than from the course. If your district is already scheduling its own training, ask your administration to include you — or have them contact us about joint sessions with a neighboring district.

Bring the course to your district

Tell us your participant count and preferred window. We build the schedule around your calendar.

Request a Training Proposal or call 817-625-2700

We respond to every inquiry the same business day in most cases.