The specifics
Discussion on this topic first arose when Police Chief Thedrick Andres gave a presentation on the needs of the Cibolo Police Department in December.
Since that presentation, council has had multiple discussions regarding the possibility of having city staff who are school resource officers return to a city police role.
During the May 28 City Council meeting, City Attorney George Hyde gave a presentation on the interlocal agreement and changes to Texas law following the implementation of House Bill 3 in 2023.
In the presentation, Hyde said amendments to the interlocal agreement between the city and the school district did not consistently go before City Council for approval, which makes the validity of the contract questionable.
“Our interpretation of this provision is that this provision ended on July 31, 2017,” Hyde said. “Once it ended, there was no way to revive that contract without the City Council taking action.”
Hyde explained that with the contract seemingly ending in 2017, the city of Cibolo has been providing school resource officers to the district without a contract.
Hyde said while it is not illegal for a home rule city to provide officers without a contract, the lack of a contract leaves payment conditions and any risks associated with providing officers up in the air.
Following the presentation by Hyde, council member Katie Cunningham said the city is faced with two issues: internal communication and communication with the school district.
Cunningham suggested having a workshop between City Council to continue the discussion and take the time to approach the situation in a thoughtful way.
“We cannot make good decisions if we don’t have good information, if we don’t know the whole story,” Cunningham said. “We want to make sound decisions for the city because this is a big impact.”
What they’re saying
Each council member commented on the school resource officer issues, with council member Joel Hicks saying the school district is required by law to have officers on campus, and there are options for the district to meet the required law. Hicks said with the city growth, additional law enforcement personnel is needed to ensure safety.
“We have got to have police officers patrolling,” Hicks said.
Council member Norma Sanchez-Stephens echoed this statement, saying the needs of the city are increasing and are not the same as when the interlocal agreement was first approved.
“When we had a much smaller population and we were adequately staffed, we were able to [fulfill the agreement],” Sanchez-Stephens said. “Currently, our police shifts run at most four per shift, while other cities are close to seven.”
City Council approved the creation of a workshop to further discuss the future of the interlocal agreement and school resource officers provided by the city of Cibolo.
The workshop will include discussion regarding the creation of a subcommittee between City Council and the board of trustees to ensure both entities are part of a future conversation, according to City Council.
What’s next?
Council will meet in a workshop on June 10 starting at 6 p.m.
Under HB 3, the school district is required to have a certified peace officer at every campus, meaning the district will be responsible for providing personnel regardless of the decision from the city.
Additional discussion will occur during future meetings. The full meeting from May 28 can be viewed here.
