COMAL COUNTY, Texas — Comal ISD is striving to ensure each elementary school has a school resource officer in the upcoming academic year.
“We’ve already had a history of having school resource officers at our secondary campuses, middle school and high school,” said Steve Stanford, Comal ISD chief of communications. “With all the events, in particularly in Uvalde, with that tragedy there, the conversations about how about our elementary schools.”
The initiative began in April when the Comal ISD Board of Trustees committed to expanding a law enforcement presence beyond the middle and high schools.
Stanford said armed officers have been present at the elementary schools since last year, although on a rotational basis, meaning not every campus was covered.
“Recruiting and finding the individuals is going to be the biggest challenge,” Stanford said.
The district is working with multiple law enforcement agencies to recruit personnel for the 2023-2024 school year. Agencies include the Comal, Guadalupe and Bexar County sheriff’s offices as well as the Bulverde Police Department.
Stanford said law enforcement agencies are trying to hire their own full-time personnel so meeting the district’s needs for school resource officers can be difficult.
“That’s why they’re recruiting reserve officers. These are individuals who may be retired law enforcement or retired military,” Stanford said.
Stanford said Comal ISD is acting independent of the Texas Legislature when it comes to the initiative. Lawmakers passed House Bill 3, which mandates every Texas school district to require an armed employee at each campus.
“If the legislature had not passed House Bill 3 and there was no mandate to have these officers at our elementary schools, we would still be doing it,” Stanford said.
Shelby Aniroodh, a former Comal ISD teacher, is on board with the district’s effort to expand security to the elementary schools.
“My personal campus that I worked at in Comal ISD, we did have an armed guard and it definitely helped us teachers and students feel more safe,” Aniroodh said.
Stanford said it will take time for every elementary school to have an officer at every campus.