“Keeping our students safe is always our top priority in Plano ISD, and we want to assure our community that we will implement these new requirements with fidelity,” Superintendent Theresa Williams said in the release.
The PISD board of trustees unanimously passed the resolution during its Aug. 8 meeting.
What’s happening?
The new program will be implemented to comply with House Bill 3, which was passed during the 88th legislative session and requires districts to staff every campus with armed security personnel during regular school hours.
The bill will be effective Sept. 1.
The district has school resource officers at secondary grade level who also do daily rotations at elementary schools.
“The Plano Police Department will continue our community policing school security program which involves patrol officers conducting two security checks daily at each elementary school,” Plano police Chief Ed Drain said in the release. “We will also work closely with Plano ISD on ongoing training of their school marshals once the program is up and running.”
The school marshal program will give PISD an alternate route to providing armed security at 44 elementary schools, three early childhood schools, one adult transition center and one special programs center in addition to six additional officers for backfill.
Dig deeper
The school marshal program is set to begin with job listings Aug. 9. School marshals must meet the following qualifications:
- Possess and maintain a Texas License to Carry
- Pass a psychological exam
- Complete 80 hours of initial training and 16 hours of refresher training every two years
HB 3 originally requires an armed school resource officer or district peace officer, but PISD is utilizing a “Good Cause” exemption due to police and district workforce shortages.
HB 3 will provide an additional $1.1 million of state funding, and the total cost of hiring and maintaining security officers will add around $4.1 million in costs for the district, school board President Nancy Humphrey said.
Quote of note
“Our options are very limited, and the school district’s hands are tied as to what we can do,” board member Tarrah Lantz said. “This is something that I believe is going to work, and we've asked the questions to make it work for our community, but it's also something that is not set in stone. I hope that other parents out there go to their state legislators and request the programs like this get fully funded by the state.”
