Central Texas school districts start school year with armed officers on campus daily

CLIFTON, Texas (KWTX) - Every Central Texas school district is starting the school year with at least one trained, armed officer or staff member on campus.

This comes after the enforcement of House Bill 3 in September 2023, which requires all Texas school districts to have an armed officer on every campus.

Clifton ISD hired its first school resource officer (SRO) before the start of the 2023-24 school year.

Superintendent Andy Ball said it was a year-long process. The district entered into a partnership with the Clifton Police Department to be able to afford an SRO during the school year.

“When the legislature decided to do $15,000 per campus, for us, that’s $45,000,” he said. “Of course, it’s not going to pay for an entire police department, but that doesn’t cover all of our costs for safety and security. So, being able to make the deal with entering into the agreement with the PD here, it really helped us out.”

The SRO works with the district during the school year, but she works with the police department during the summer. She is employed by Clifton PD.

Officer Carmen Moreno became the district’s first SRO in 2023.

She said she greets students in the morning, patrols campuses throughout the day, makes sure campus doors stay locked and shut and is prepared to respond to any emergency situation.

Luckily, she said she did not have to respond to any incidents last school year, but she hopes being an officer on campus helps parents, students and staff feel more at ease.

“You see everything that’s happened this far in the world, just knowing there’s a police officer, somebody that can engage as soon as necessary if something were to happen is...it’s kind of a relief just to send your kids to school,” she said.

Ball said, in addition to having an SRO, the district has also advanced several safety and security measures in recent years.

“To be able to do the things that we do here, and I’m not saying I do it for my own kids, but I have kids here that I’m not worried about going to school every day at Clifton ISD,” he said. “The things that we’ve been able to do in the past 13 years and really in the past several years has really enhanced not only the safety, but the culture and the climate around here for the kids and the staff.”

Ball said the district also hoped having an officer on campus would provide support for students.

Moreno said she noticed some students did not talk with her because she had a badge. However, throughout the year, she noticed those same students would come to her with problems for support.

“A lot of them, I think, that wouldn’t have told me certain things in the beginning or maybe reported stuff if they needed to, feel comfortable enough to come up and tell me stuff or feel that I’m there to actually help them or just be there for them in general,” she said.

Moreno is excited to see students back on campus to serve as an SRO for the second year.

The district also implemented the Guardian Program for trained staff to be armed and able to use force in emergency situations on campuses when Moreno may not be at that time.

“The guardian program is also awesome because I’m not going to be at all the schools at the same time,” she said. “If something were to happen in the middle school and I’m at the elementary school, I mean, there’s people there that I know will be able to handle it before me and any other help can arrive.”

School Guardians must complete a background screening, physical exam, psychological evaluation, which is the same process for law enforcement. They must also complete a training program and continue to train throughout the school year.

Guardians remain confidential, but the program is on a volunteer basis.

Many school districts across Central Texas formed a police department.

Ball chose not to form a police department yet so that the district would not only have access to Clifton PD’s resources but also set up an agreement with the department.

Other school districts have multiple SROs or multiple school guardians.

The bottom line: making sure a trained officer or staff member is ready to respond to any emergency situation on district property.

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