Raul Quintanilla Sr. Middle School, in the Dallas Independent School District, has been selected as the winner of ASIS International's School Security Funding Competition. As the winner, ASIS International will award the school $20,000 for security improvements. Quintanilla Middle School has 860 seventh- and eighth-grade students, and is one of 37 middle schools in the Dallas ISD, the 14th largest school district in the nation.
 
Proposed improvements include adding security cameras and software, new outdoor lighting, two-way radios for campus communications and repairs to perimeter fencing. The ASIS School Security Funding Competition asked Dallas ISD schools to consider -- through a series of short essays -- their particular security concerns and how those concerns might impact their students, teachers and administrators. They were asked to describe security risks they would attempt to reduce and/or eliminate, and list specific security enhancements they would purchase with the funding.
 
A committee comprised of members of the Dallas ISD police and security team, along with security management professionals from the ASIS North Texas chapter, judged the submissions. The ASIS International 56th Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2010) will be held Oct. 12-15 (Tuesday through Friday) at the Dallas Convention Center.
 
ASIS will recognize Quintanilla Middle School and Principal Valdez at a special awards luncheon on Oct. 15 at the Dallas Convention Center.