Mission, Texas- The Mission Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) Board of Trustees has approved changes to agreements with three cities and the Precinct 3 Constable’s Office that will result in a doubling of police officers working in district schools. The district currently contracts for School Resource Officers that operate primarily at the junior high schools and high schools. Under the new agreements, the number of officers will increase to allow for officers to be stationed at each Mission CISD school.
“Each year, we make improvements to our safety and security measures,” explains Dr. Carol G. Perez. “We take a very layered approach to our school safety and each year we look at lessons learned from around the country to see what we can improve upon. More recent events heightened discussions of additional options, on top of what we had already planned for this school year. We have always had solid partnerships with our local law enforcement agencies and we feel building upon that is the most prudent step to take at this time.”
For security reasons, district officials do not plan to publicly discuss the exact deployment details of security and police officers, other than to say there will now be a police presence at all Mission CISD schools.
Under the agreements, the cities will provide additional officers to schools as their workforce increases to meet the increased demand.
The cost to provide the additional police officers is estimated to be $620,987. The total cost for all law enforcement officers is estimated to be $1,537,454. The agreements are with the Mission Police Department, Alton Police Department, Palmhurst Police Department, and Hidalgo County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office.
“We plan to continue to improve upon our other layers of security as well,” added Dr. Perez. “This includes mental health, emotional support, adding security vestibules to the last 5 schools that don’t have one, regular security audits and checks, improved procedures, training of staff, emergency drills, security camera improvements, etc. So many things have an impact on school safety and need to be a part of the solutions we take.”
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