EDUCATION Conroe ISD police chief pushes for more security o cers under new House Bill 3 demands
Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3 into law June 14, which will be e ective Sept. 1. The bill gives the state more oversight of districts’ safety and security measures. BREAKING DOWN HOUSE BILL 3
BY CASSANDRA JENKINS
role is, and the expectation is that they are there to stop threats and act immediately,” Blakelock said. “I know there are plenty of people that would love to help and take on that role. That’s something that could be put in place fast on our campuses, but when we are talking about school safety and security, we shouldn’t talk about fast or cheap. We should talk about the best option, and the best option is a Conroe ISD police o cer.” Blakelock said CISD police o cers are required to undergo: • 720 hours of police academy training • 80 hours of classroom and tactical training upon being hired • 40 hours of defensive tactics and crisis intervention • 14 weeks of eld training CISD o cers are also trained and equipped with body armor, a rearm, a ri e, a shield and breaching tools. What’s next: Blakelock said as the law is written, without contrary guidance from the state, the district meets the requirements from HB 3. However, he said many terms are unde ned or left for broad interpretation. HB 3 will become law Sept. 1.
qualify to serve as security o cers, then it must choose an alternative standard, which includes a: • School marshal • Guardian who is authorized to carry a rearm • Commissioned security o cer who has level two or three training through Texas Department of Public Safety The approach: During a board presentation Aug. 1, Blakelock said he recommends keeping the CISD standard and hiring more CISD police o cers because: • They are highly trained and vetted. • There is limited availability of police o cers from outside entities. • It would cost more to hire full-time or o -duty police o cers from the county sheri ’s department. • Marshals and guardians would receive limited training and are required to store the rearm while in the classroom. What they’re saying: “[Our o cers] have an immense amount of training to back them up, and it’s instilled in them every single day what their
Conroe ISD Chief of Police Matthew Blakelock is pushing to get more school resource o cers for every campus in the district under House Bill 3. He did not provide an estimate of how many additional o cers could be needed. The setup: Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 3 into law June 14, which requires at least one armed security o cer to be on all public school campuses during regular school hours. Under the law, a district’s board of trustees determines how to provide security at school campuses, including options such as: • Employing or contracting with security personnel • Entering a memorandum of understanding with outside law enforcement jurisdictions for school resource o cers • Contracting with a security ser- vices contractor for commissioned security o cers • Commissioning peace o cers, or district police o cers As HB 3 states, if a board is unable to comply with the requirements due to a lack of funding or personnel who
WHAT’S IN THE BILL?
1 At least one armed o cer must be on each public school campus during school hours. 2 School district employees who regularly interact with students must have mental health training. 3 Districts must create procedures for students to report concerning behavior by other students. 4 A child’s discipline record and threat assessments will be required to transfer with them between schools. 5 Parents will be noti ed via text or email about violent activity investigations on their child’s campus. 6 Districts failing to meet safety infrastructure standards must reallocate bond funds to x the issues.
HOW IS IT FUNDED?
28-cent increase in the per-student safety allotment + $15,000 per campus annually for security expenses =
SAFETY IN SCHOOLS As the 9th largest school district in Texas, Conroe ISD’s police force is tasked with protecting 73 campuses and over 71,000 students. SOURCE: CONROE ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
$1.1 million in additional funding estimated for Conroe ISD
74o cers will start the 2023-24 school year
4 more o cers are anticipated to start in early September
$35 million is in the proposed 2023 bond for safety measures
$9.2 million was spent on school police in the 2022-23 budget
SOURCES: CONROE ISD, TEXAS LEGISLATURE ONLINE COMMUNITY IMPACT
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