Frisco ISD to put retired law enforcement officers on every elementary school campus
Frisco ISD to up security on elementary school campuses
The Frisco Independent School District’s board has approved a school marshal program to further safeguard its elementary school campuses.
FRISCO, Texas - The Frisco Independent School District’s board has approved a school marshal program to further safeguard its elementary school campuses.
Frisco ISD School Safety
What we know:
On Monday night, Frisco ISD trustees discussed and decided to move forward with a school marshal program to increase safety at the elementary schools.
The program follows Gov. Greg Abbott’s directives to improve school safety and security in the wake of the mass shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School.
Plano ISD will implement school marshal program to meet state security requirements
Plano ISD is one of the area districts relying on the school marshal program to help meet the new requirements by the state to have armed security on all public school campuses. But like many districts, it also won't meet the state's deadline.
Frisco ISD already has school resource officers at its middle and high schools. Those officers routinely visit the elementary campuses but are not assigned to them.
"That worked really well the last couple of years, but the whole time we have been evaluating what would be the best program to try and get an officer on every elementary campus," said Superintendent Mike Waldrip.
So, beginning next school year, a marshal will be assigned to each elementary school.
Only retired law enforcement officers will be hired to fill the 53 open positions.
What they're saying:
Superintendent Waldrip said the marshals’ sole responsibility will be the protection of students, staff, and faculty at the elementary schools.
"We’re requiring that these individuals be retired law enforcement officers so that there is more of a seamless connection between this program and our current SRO program and our local law enforcement agencies," he said. "We feel very confident that the current program we have in place is robust enough to provide the safety that we need, the safety and security that we need at our campuses. This is just another step to actually put an officer on every campus."
What's next:
The program is scheduled to start next year but may take up to two years to be fully staffed.
Retired law enforcement officers interested in applying will be able to do so on the Frisco ISD website.
The Source: The information in this story comes from Monday night's Frisco Indepenedent School District board meeting.