Eanes ISD Superintendent Jeff Arnett said the plan is to have two police officers at the high school and at least one officer stationed at both middle schools and the district's six elementary schools, including Forrest Trail .
Under the new law, if a district is not able to hire a peace officer or school resource officer because of a lack of funding or qualified candidates, the board of trustees must develop an alternative plan. The plan could involve having a school marshal or another school employee, who has undergone certain training, to act as a security officer.
Eanes ISD currently has a partnership with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, which provides two school resource officers who primarily work at Westlake High School. School resource officers are peace officers who work for a local law enforcement agency and are assigned to a school district or campus. In addition to the two school resource officers, the district also employs six security staff. Altogether, those positions cost the district $935,000.
While Arnett expressed optimism about finding officers who will be a good fit, some parents and advocates have reservations about the impact of school police. During a school safetyA couple of people pointed out municipal police departments were struggling to find candidates, so they worried about who might be available for Eanes ISD to hire. Another person urged the district to make sure it uses training that is up to date.
Eanes ISD officials said there will be procedures in place to report any officer misconduct. The policy the board approved includes a process for filing both informal and formal complaints. The district also has athat allows people to report concerns anonymously that will go to several individuals, not just the police department.
Hairston said it is challenging to see state lawmakers push for more police on school campuses, especially in the wake of the“We saw the stunning failure of police officers on that school campus at Robb Elementary in May 2022,” he said. “There’s been this feeling of reticence about if school police do secure school safety [and in] that really horrific and public event, you can see absolutely notthat had support from families of the victims of the Robb Elementary shooting did not pass.