By N. Bradford
Pearland ISD this month will join countless Texas school districts asking for more time to fully implement a new — and costly — state law that goes into effect this Friday.
Signed into law June 13, House Bill 3 mandates every public school in Texas provide at least one armed individual on campus.
“What did not come with that was funding that will cover it,” Pearland ISD Superintendent Larry Berger told board members during an Aug. 21 discussion on how to meet the requirement. “Just like there’s a shortage of qualified teachers, there’s a shortage of police officers.”
The mandate does state that districts may claim an exemption based on funding or staffing shortages, and the district currently has both, Berger said.
House Bill 3 was not completely unfunded: It increased the per “student safety allotment” by 28 cents per student and provides school districts with $15,000 per campus to help implement the mandate. This extra funding adds up to $558,000 per year — hardly enough to cover what would cost Pearland ISD $4.8 million.
The local school district does have safety programs that include security personnel on campuses.
“Currently, PISD has a partnership with the City of Pearland which we greatly value that allows us to have (security officers) at our high schools and our junior highs,” Berger said during the Aug. 21 discussion. “We currently pay $1.3 million for those officers.”
To fully cover the district’s middle and elementary schools would cost another $3.5 million.
The board agreed Aug. 21 to request an exemption while developing a safety plan that hires more officers who will rotate among middle and elementary campuses.
The exemption is available “as long as we have a plan in place and there is a timeline when funds and personnel become available,” he said.
Another option provided by the mandate is to arm teachers and staff through a guardian program.
“There are so many errors that can happen in the midst of that,” Trustee Crystal Carbone said. “I would rather leave that to the professionals.”
