The 2026–2029 School Safety Audit Cycle: What Changed

Texas independent school districts are moving into the 2026–2029 school safety and security audit cycle, which begins September 1, 2026. Under Texas Education Code §37.108, every district must complete a safety and security audit at least once in the three-year cycle and report the results to the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) and to its board of trustees. (Open-enrollment charters and public junior colleges run on their own staggered cycles — the current dates for every entity type are on our audit cycles & deadlines page.)

What changed for this cycle

The methodology is different from prior cycles. The single audit checklist is retired in favor of the TxSSC instrument suite — a records review (140 criteria), an on-site assessment of each facility (71 criteria per facility), and structured interviews (84 items), plus climate input. The 2025 legislative session is built into the criteria, and the HB 33 facility security review under §37.1087 is required from the first day of the cycle.

When reports are due

The TxSSC sets the reporting window for each entity type, and it has not yet published the window for the new ISD cycle — our deadlines page shows "to be announced" until it does, and we update it as soon as the window posts. The on-site work must be complete before the cycle ends, and the calendar fills fastest in the final year.

Staying current between audits

An audit is a point-in-time review, but the standard keeps moving — each September the TxSSC publishes an Annual Supplemental. Our annual compliance maintenance service reconciles a completed audit against that supplement every fall, so a district's documentation stays current through the full three-year cycle. You can see how a complete engagement runs on the safety audit overview.