This agreement assists the district in having officers at every campus as required by House Bill 3, which was signed into law in 2023. This change requires nine total SROs in Cibolo, with one at each campus in the city.
This is a change from the original agreement in 2011, which provided five SROs to schools in Cibolo.
Discussion on the agreement has been ongoing since April 9 as the city has worked to maneuver budget funds to help create new patrol positions for the police department.
In a nutshell
The city of Cibolo will provide five school resource officers to the district until the city fills vacancies within the police department, and after patrol positions are filled, the city will provide up to nine total SROs, according to city documents.
Cibolo City Attorney George Hyde said the district will compensate the SROs.
Deanna Jackson, SCUCISD director of communications and community engagement, said once the Cibolo Police Department is completely staffed, the district’s total financial commitment to the city will be just over $1 million.
While CPD works on staffing, the district will fill in SRO vacancies with off-duty officers, ensuring one SRO per campus.
SCUCISD Superintendent Paige Meloni said the goal is to ensure student safety.
“It has been our intent to fulfill HB3 with a licensed police officer on every campus, and it has been our intention and our want to do that with our cities where our schools lie,” Meloni said.
The cause
Cibolo City Council first decided to look at the interlocal agreement due to a need for more police officers conducting patrol on city streets.
Police Chief Thedrick Andres presented to City Council July 16 outlining the composition of the police department compared to surrounding cities. He said Cibolo has 18 patrol positions with two dual-assignment positions, which serve multiple roles in the department. Comparatively, Schertz has 28 patrol officers, and Live Oak has 16.
Andres said the addition of five patrol positions would bring the city to the appropriate staffing levels to serve the estimated 32,000 residents.
Council member Joel Hicks and Mayor Mark Allen said they believe surrounding cities have more general fund revenue—where police funding comes from—than Cibolo due to economic development differences.
What they're saying
During the July 23 meeting, members of Cibolo City Council highlighted the importance of ensuring the police department was fully staffed with the five new positions added before allocating officers to the school district.
“We have got to make sure that our streets and our city is protected,” Hicks said.
For the school district, the board of trustees will continue to work with local municipalities to ensure school safety by providing officers.
“Our parents’ No. 1 goal for their students is the safety and security of said students,” Meloni said.
Moving forward
With the approval of the agreement, Cibolo City Council will approve an update to city policy during a future meeting, which will outline the SRO job description alongside the creation of a standard operating procedure for officers that will participate in the SRO program.
This policy will guide the agreement between the city and SCUCISD by giving clear policy to police staff serving as SROs.
Jackson said while Cibolo works on staffing the police department, the district will staff campuses with commissioned off-duty police officers.
As of July 23, the Cibolo Police Department had a total of nine patrol vacancies, including the five positions that were created.
City Council will also determine the best method of reviewing the new agreement each year, whether that be for city staff to look over the agreement or for a subcommittee to be created.
Hyde said the agreement will be revisited each March to be reviewed by the council, and any budgetary changes will require council approval.
Officers will be available on all campuses within SCUCISD at the start of the school year.
