Frisco ISD officials are seeking bids from private security companies for armed security guards.

The gist

During the Sept. 18 board meeting, Chief Operations Officer Scott Warstler told the board of trustees that the district released proposal requests from third party services for armed security guard companies Aug. 11. The window for requests closed Sept. 22.

District officials along with the district’s police department partners will go through a review process of the proposals before bringing additional information before the board, he said.

The backstory

FISD board of trustees claimed an exemption to newly passed state legislation regarding security officers due to a lack of available qualified officers. The board approved a good cause exception to the law Aug. 14.

House Bill 3 was created by Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and mandates all schools within a district must have an armed security officer present during regular school hours starting Sept. 1.

Per the bill, a school security officer could be a:

• School district law enforcement officer
• School resource officer, or SRO
• Law enforcement officer commissioned to work for the district

The district partners with police departments in Frisco, Plano, McKinney and Little Elm to provide SROs at the district's schools. Under the new law, FISD would need an additional 44 security officers to comply with House Bill 3, according to a presentation given by FISD Executive Director of Operations James Hill.

With the exception, the district is continuing its current practice. All secondary schools have a full-time SRO, while middle school SROs assist in covering elementary schools. Under this practice, the district only uses commissioned peace officers.

As part of the resolution for the exception, district employees were directed by the board of trustees to provide monthly updates concerning safety and security for the district.

Stay tuned

An update on the proposal request process will be given in October, Warstler said.