Leander ISD board approves creating district police department
LEANDER, Texas - Leander ISD will soon have its own district police department.
The Board approved a resolution at its Nov. 30 meeting establishing the department in accordance with the passage of House Bill 3.
HB 3 requires all Texas school districts to have an armed officer on every campus or if a district is unable to do this, it must have a ‘good cause exception’ with an alternative plan. The bill was proposed in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
"The safety and security of our students and staff is the district’s top priority," said Board President Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia, Ph.D. "This is an area in which LISD already excels, and I’m confident in the vision set forward, one that keeps culture and relationship-building at the forefront while ensuring a safe and innovative learning environment."
The LISD Board also approved amending the current 2023–24 budget to provide funding for 10 single-role marshals and administrative positions, including the Chief of Police. These positions would be in addition to contracted school resource officers already in place at the high schools through partnerships with Leander and Cedar Park police and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
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It will also allow the district to be able to work toward becoming an authorized police department through a TCOLE application in the months ahead.
Once the police department is established, LISD can begin hiring its own School Resource Officers (SROs) and moving forward with the long-term vision laid out in the Aug. 24 meeting.
In addition to armed security, the district says it will continue to maintain current safety protocols in place, including weekly door audits and standard response protocol drills. Additional security projects are in the works, including force-resistant film for ground-level windows and windowed doors, storage function door latches for interior and portable doors, digital building mapping for emergency responders, additional cameras at all levels, and exterior fencing.