PEOPLE
BY PEYTON MACKENZIE
2023 EDUCATION EDITION
Rickey Doerre Montgomery ISD’s new police chief
HOW DO DEMANDS OF THE DEPARTMENT CHANGE AS THE DISTRICT GROWS? It increases the number of oper- ations we are performing and the volume of meals we are serving, as we have more schools and more students in our schools. ... A big thing that has changed this year is we are updating three of the kitchens. ... So the community has supported our growing and [helped us in improving our] kitchens to make sure we are able to e ciently serve our students. ... We are also hiring and looking to ll our kitchen with people who want to come out and ensure our students are able to learn. HOW DOES A SCHOOL POLICE DEPARTMENT DIFFER FROM A TRADITIONAL CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT? You know, policing is policing. But I think the biggest di erence is, in a school district police department you have an o cer who is the guardian of that campus. Basically what that means is they are there every day; that’s their home; they don’t move; they build those relationships. ... Municipal policing, you’re working patrol; you’re working investigations; you’re maybe working as an SRO over [at] the school district; but there’s just other aspects of policing you’re taking care of, where our primary focus [as a school police department] is the safety and security of the students and the faculty and our buildings and property.
Rickey Doerre, the incoming chief of police for Montgomery ISD, spoke with Community Impact in late July as he takes on his new role of leading the district’s police department. He began his new role July 10, working alongside outgoing Police Chief Stephen Phillips, who is retiring e ective Aug. 31. Doerre said he has been in the police eld for over 33 years, with the last 19 years being second in command for the Tomball Police Department.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A POLICE DEPARTMENT IN HOUSE IN MISD? I think one of the best advantages is you can allocate your personnel as needed when needed to address sit- uations as they change. We all know things are uid and change on a daily basis, and so to have the latitude
LOOKING TO BRING TO MISD? Chief Phillips has done an amazing job over his tenure here from estab- lishing processes and procedures and growing the department, so as a new chief walking in the door what I want to do is I want to take what he has done, take an opportunity to evaluate everything and then continue to move things forward.
to move your o cers from Point A to Point B without going through a contract vendor really enhances your program. ... Your o cers are a part of the community; they build a bond with the faculty, the students, the community itself. ARE THERE ANY NEW PRAC TICES OR TRAININGS YOU’RE
Pamela Mallory Montgomery ISD’s new child nutrition director Pamela Mallory began as Montgomery ISD’s child nutrition director in June and spoke with Community Impact in late July about her new role. She replaces Lena Neugebauer, who is retiring in August after 25 years of service in MISD. Mallory said her background includes seven years in food service as a cafe- teria manager. She said she shifted careers to go into school nutrition, and she spent eight years at Klein ISD before moving over to MISD.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT’S ON THE MENU AT SCHOOLS? Our menus are based around the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s national school lunch and breakfast program, and we have very speci c guidelines that include ... calories, fat, sodium—and starting next year it’s going to include added sugars. ... And then the menus are planned
I want to make sure that I am taking care of the students who grew up like I did. ... So if I can make sure I take care of the meals so that students are able to eat, that means the rest of the school operates smoother because teachers can focus on teaching and not making sure their students are fed; principals can focus on scheduling and not making sure students are getting fed.
according to students’ preferences. Students’ favorite items are chicken nuggets so we make sure chicken nuggets are on the menu. WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT CHILD NUTRITION? I am passionate about child nutrition because as a student who grew up eat- ing [school] lunch every day at school,
THESE INTERVIEWS HAVE BEEN EDITED FOR LENGTH, STYLE AND CLARITY.
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CONROE MONTGOMERY EDITION • AUGUST 2023
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