On June 11, City Council authorized the city manager and other city staff to reach out to district staff to potentially enter negotiations for a new interlocal agreement.
Alongside the authorization for staff negotiations, City Council approved the creation of a subcommittee made up of council members Katie Cunningham, T.G. Benson, Joel Hicks and Robert Mahoney.
How we got here
Since 2011, SCUCISD has had interlocal agreements with the cities of Schertz and Cibolo to use city patrol officers as school resource officers.
Over the course of multiple meetings, Cibolo City Council has held discussions regarding the use of city patrol officers as school resource officers.
As a way to fulfill a need of additional patrol officers for the city, council looked at the interlocal agreement between SCUCISD and the city to see if moving SROs back to patrol would be an option that worked within the upcoming budget.
During the May 28 council meeting, City Attorney George Hyde explained the changes to Texas law following the passing of House Bill 3 in 2023 makes the validity of the interlocal agreement questionable.
Under HB 3, the school district is required to have a certified peace officer at every campus in the district.
Discussion from previous City Council meetings led to the creation of a workshop on June 10, which was solely focused on the SRO discussion. During the June 11 meeting, Police Chief Thedrick Andres gave an overview of the discussion from the workshop.
What’s next?
The motion made by City Council on June 11 does not give final approval to an interlocal agreement between the city and school district.
With the motion, city staff and the subcommittee of council members will work on negotiations and options for a new interlocal agreement. Should a new agreement be drafted, it would need to be approved by the City Council.
The SCUCISD board of trustees will discuss the interlocal agreements for the cities of Schertz and Cibolo during the June 18 board meeting, according to the posted agenda.
Cibolo City Council member Katie Cunningham said she would like to have an update on the interlocal agreement during a meeting in July so the city has time to look at options that work with the upcoming budget.
