Keller City Council approved the contract during a meeting on Nov. 1, following Westlake Town Council giving the go-ahead on Oct. 25.
The position has been posted on the Keller city website, and the job range states the position will pay between $31-$40 an hour.
Westlake Town Marshal Bobby Cure doubles as the school resource officer for the charter school. Under the contract, the town marshal will fill in when the SRO is absent or unavailable. If both the SRO and the town marshal are absent or unavailable, the Keller Police Department will provide a fill-in officer for the school.
The Keller Police Department has a substation at the school—which was added in 2018—and does foot patrols of the campus, follows up on tips and provides randomized drug searches, according to Keller Police Chief Brad Fortune.
Westlake Academy Head of School Sean Wilson will provide yearly performance evaluations of the SRO. The town of Westlake will reimburse the city of Keller for all personnel costs involved in the hire. Westlake will also share in the cost of providing a marked vehicle for the SRO, a portable radio and uniforms for a flat fee of $7,500 per officer.
The city of Keller and Keller ISD previously approved a contract for three full-time officers and a less-than-full-time officer for the 2022-23 school year for a little more than $391,000.
Westlake Mayor Sean Kilbride stated the SRO will make themselves available for after-school events and athletic contests at the direction of Wilson, according to an email distributed by the city Oct. 26.
The town of Westlake is soliciting bids from security firms to complete a security audit of Westlake Academy before the end of the school year, Kilbride noted.
