Dallas ISD’s school board will soon vote on a multi-million-dollar spending request for police and security officer gear.
Ahead of the next Dallas ISD board meeting on February 22, administrators asked for authorization to engage vendors to purchase new uniforms and other gear for the district’s police and armed security guards. They want an allowance of as much as $2.5 million over the next five years for this purpose, plus approximately $1 million more in taxpayer spending to accommodate new hires.
“I want to stay on track and, if at all possible, accelerate putting those armed officers at every single one of the schools,” said Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, according to The Dallas Morning News.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a new state law came into effect last September requiring all publicly-funded schools to have “at least one armed security officer … present during regular school hours at each district campus.” While the initiative has aimed to keep school campuses safe, many districts have struggled to comply due to the lack of a qualified hiring pool and budget constraints.
Recently, many public school districts have reported sizeable budget deficits and have either announced or are considering staff cuts, school closures, and attendance zone expansions. No new state funding came in this year due to an education bill getting caught up in lawmakers’ fight over school choice.
On the other hand, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) made the Safety and Facilities Enhancement (SAFE) grant available for districts needing help paying for various security measures, such as hiring armed security guards. Federal grants designated for school safety, violence-reduction initiatives, and more are also about to open.
Despite having a $2.5 billion budget, Dallas ISD is one of those districts that struggled to comply with the armed security guard law, finding itself short around 167 officers at the start of the academic year.
Administrators aim to recruit approximately 160 new district officers or armed security guards by 2027, which would nearly double the Dallas ISD police force. The department currently stands at over 200, including administrative staff.
According to the latest TEA accountability report, only 41% of students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams for the 2021-2022 school year.