NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas -- As the new school year begins, more students in New Braunfels will see a campus police officer in the hallways on a daily basis.
New Braunfels ISD has staffed four school resource officers for each secondary campus starting this school year.
"Especially in light of all the things that have been across the country with school shootings, etc., it's always good to have security on campus. We're always a big proponent of having police officers around," said David Ferguson, New Braunfels Police Department spokesman.
In the wake of the Parkland and Santa Fe school shootings, NBISD asked the public for input.
"That was kind of the point where we decided, ‘Okay, let’s pull the community together, let’s talk to them, let’s hear what they have to say and get their feedback and input.’ It's not something we can easily come to a solution on our own. We really wanted everyone involved," said NBISD Director of Communications Rebecca Villarreal.
The decision to add school resource officers to NBISD follows five committee meetings where 15 members evaluated school security options. The district also held multiple community forums. Adding these campus police officers was the top priority.
"Just having them there is just going to give a better peace of mind, and it's going to allow the students and staff to focus more on what they're there for which is educating and learning," Villarreal said.
However, this new assignment means the police department is essentially losing four patrol officers.
"We've made no secret of the fact that we believe that we are short staffed at New Braunfels Police right now but we were able to make this work with the help of City Council. We were able to add some additional open positions in the upcoming budget for the next fiscal year," Ferguson said.
Additional security measures for the district will also be taken into account for the next fiscal year.
"Some of them are actually going into our bond. So we've actually called a bond for November and you'll see about $6.6 million worth of security enhancements in that bond as well," Villarreal said.
The proposed enhancements include:
- Proximity readers
- Alarms on all exterior doors
- Indoor and outdoor security cameras at every campus ($2 million estimated cost)
- Enhanced security for front reception areas at seven campuses ($250,000 estimated cost)
- Ballistic glass film ($850,000 estimated cost)
- Electric door locks ($52,500 estimated cost)
- Expansion of panic button systems in classrooms
NBISD is also recommending the addition of certain items that would come from the district's general fund. They include:
- Metal detecting wands for secondary campuses ($230 per scanner)
- Third-party social media monitoring
- Student-issued ID badges
- Full-time position for school safety and facility management
More details about the proposed NBISD bond can be found here: http://www.nbisd.org/page/bond.2018