A contract between the city of Frisco and Frisco ISD will allocate nearly 40 police officers to local schools.

Two-minute impact

Frisco City Council members unanimously approved a contract for 37 school resource officers, or SROs, during an Oct. 3 meeting.

• 29 officers
• 4 sergeants
• 3 rovers
• 1 lieutenant

“The only change [in this year’s contract] is there were two additional positions added to be included in the contract,” Police Chief David Shilson said. “One for a Wilkinson Middle School SRO and the other was for a specific SRO lieutenant because the unit has grown to a pretty large size.”

Officers in the SRO program are permanently assigned to school facilities as a way to reduce and prevent crimes committed by juveniles and young adults, according to meeting documents. The program also strives to develop positive connections between students, police officers and school administrators.

What else?

The contract will cover Aug. 1, 2023-July 31, 2024, according to meeting documents.

The SRO program is jointly funded by the city and FISD for that timeframe, according to meeting documents.

What they’re saying

The new contract is overall consistent with previous years, Mayor Jeff Cheney said.

The police department has also been consulting with school district officials regarding a separate school safety program laid out in recent state legislation, Shilson said.

“Armed security is one of the options that school districts can opt to go to,” Shilson said. “FISD has filed a good cause exception because of the timeline that they had to implement. It was a very short timeline.”