Rockwall ISD names Patrick Just as chief of safety and security

Families across Rockwall ISD are heading into the new school year with a safety office that now sits even closer to the center of campus operations. The district, which spans 102 square miles, serves 26 schools, more than 19,000 students and 2,000-plus employees, and it says its security work already reaches every campus and facility through regular drills, standard response procedures and coordination with first responders.

Rockwall ISD has named Patrick Just as its chief of safety and security. A June 15 board agenda included an action item to change the title of the Senior Executive Director of Student Services position to Chief Safety and Security Officer, signaling that the district was moving to formally align student services and safety under one top role as the 2026-2027 school year approaches.

Just has already been working in district leadership. Rockwall ISD lists him as its Senior Executive Director of Student Services, and district forms identify him as the foster care liaison trained through the Texas Education Agency. Student Services is the side of the district that works with staff, parents, local community members and students on drop-out prevention, compulsory attendance, student handbooks and transfers.

That background matters because Rockwall ISD’s safety structure is not limited to emergency drills. The district’s School Safety and Security Committee coordinates drills and exercises, school safety and security audits, policy development and training. Rockwall ISD says that committee provides central coordination of safety efforts, while the district’s emergency management approach relies on security protocols at every school and facility and standard response practices based on nationally recognized procedures.

For parents, the most noticeable effects are likely to come in how the district organizes and communicates safety rather than in any dramatic change visible on campus. The new title places Just in a role that connects day-to-day student concerns with longer-term safety planning, which could sharpen how Rockwall ISD handles training, emergency coordination and the routines that staff and students follow once classes begin on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2026.

In a district as large as Rockwall ISD, the safety chief’s job reaches beyond any single campus. It touches the daily workings of schools in Rockwall, across Rockwall County and throughout a fast-growing system that has to keep thousands of students and employees moving safely from the first bell to dismissal.