DRIPPING SPRINGS – Dripping Springs ISD (DSISD) school board member Rob McClelland is one of eight people recently appointed to the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) Board of Directors. Located at Texas State University, it provides training, research and resources to every school district across the state.
Raised in Edinburg, Texas, McClelland went through the state's school system himself; he graduated from Edinburg North High School and went on to study at Texas A&M University, where he joined the Corps of Cadets. Then, during his sophomore year, the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred and McClelland made the decision to join the U.S. Army, where he served for 12 years and achieved the rank of Major.
Elected in 2022, McClelland now serves the Dripping Springs community as a member of the DSISD Board of Trustees. In late 2024, McClelland was appointed by the Governor of Texas to serve on the TxSSC Board of Directors.
“My whole life I've been serving in something,” said McClelland. “It's just the way God made me. He made me as a servant. So, whether it's serving my country in the Army, [or] serving here at my local community, here in Dripping Springs. I also serve on other boards, foundations, nonprofits that are looking to do good things for people.”
According to the TxSSC website, it was created to support school districts throughout the state when it comes to safety concerns inside the schools. It offers specialized training, research and technical assistance to kindergarten through 12th grade public schools, as well as private schools and higher education facilities. The primary job of the TxSSC is to translate laws and policies and then, help the school districts to implement them in a way that benefits each unique school.
“Once those laws are passed, it really comes down to ability to understand, to train and then to create local policy in conjunction with what the state law is for each school to have a school safety system that fits their needs,” said McClelland. “The security requirements for districts are going to vary wildly, depending on geography, depending on enrollment, depending on a lot of different factors. So, there's not one size fits all approach to school safety. We can't think that way. We have to think, 'What's going to work and be able to implement? What’s going to be best for a local school district to do?'” McClelland emphasized that the prevention of in-school incidents gets a lot of focus when it comes to discussions about school safety; for example, early intervention. Teachers, counselors and parents and guardians can all be part of the early intervention strategy, which includes keeping an eye out for mental health situations.
“We are in a mental health crisis in America right now; Texas is also included in that and we have to acknowledge that this is a huge part of the challenge,” said McClelland.
“Mental health providers, medical experts [and] medical professionals, we must work in concert to ensure that we're addressing those needs, identifying potential [mental health problems]. Because these things are still preventable. Mental illness has existed for long before.”
While having teachers, counselors and other adults in authority in schools who are trained to notice the signs of someone in a mental health crisis helps, having parent or guardian involvement can also increase the ability to prevent the possibility of a big tragedy occurring.
“When parents and grandparents and guardians partner with school systems across Texas, we're better together. We're better together… Be part of the solution to keep creating the safest environment we can for our kids, because nobody wants something bad to happen at one of our schools,” said McClelland. “Whether it be catastrophic, like a school shooting or even one of our kids getting hit by a car in the parking lot, because you know that somebody wasn't paying attention or was on their phone or was speeding, all of those things play into school safety. All those things play into school safety, so partner in.”
To learn more about the TxSSC, visit txssc.txstate.edu.
