The details
According to district documents, these agreements will allow the school district to submit invoices to the city for reimbursement of costs related to the operation of facilities in two of the city’s reinvestment zones. The city’s reimbursement payments will allow district funds to be repurposed to pay the city of Grapevine for SRO expenses.
While the two original tax increment reinvestment zones were created in 1996 and 1998 respectively, both were amended Feb. 20 to include costs associated with the operations of facilities in these zones.
Superintendent Brad Schnautz said that this agreement is similar to the verbal agreement the district has with the city of Colleyville.
The context
These agreements come on the heels of House Bill 3, which mandates that each school district campus in the state have at least one armed security officer present during regular school hours, with security officer defined as a school district police officer, a school resource officer or a commissioned peace officer employed as security personnel under Texas Education Code 37.081.
While the mandate went into effect Sept. 1, 2023, the state has yet to provide any additional funding for HB 3.
What they’re saying
“This was very clever,” Place 2 Trustee Becky St. John said. “It’s probably going to be a model for other districts in the state.”
“One thing that’s been done in multiple meetings is trying to pit Grapevine versus Colleyville in this SRO funding thing,” Place 5 Trustee A.J. Pontillo said. “Both communities are stepping up to the plate when we need them the most.”
Jeff Strawn, the chief financial officer for the city of Grapevine, said that both agreements end in 2031, the same year that both tax increment reinvestment zones end.
