Security Personnel Policies Under House Bill 3
House Bill 3 (HB 3) changed the landscape of school security in Texas public schools. TASB Policy Service and Legal Services are working with districts to help them keep up with these changes.
As TASB Legal Services explains in its eSource article (TASB login required) about the armed security officer requirement in HB 3, each school board must ensure that at least one armed security officer — specifically, a commissioned peace officer — is present during regular school hours at each campus. A school board can claim a good cause exception to this requirement due to lack of funding or qualified personnel. An alternative may include reliance on a school marshal or an employee or contracted individual who has completed the handgun safety course required for handgun license holders and is authorized to carry a firearm by the district.
Updating Policy to Match District Practice
Because of HB 3’s significant changes to law governing school security personnel, many districts will need to update policy to reflect new practices. This spring, TASB Policy Service will survey districts to gather information about your district’s security personnel so that we can draft accurate policy provisions for your board’s consideration. If you have questions about that survey, please contact your policy consultant.
Recoding Security Personnel Policies
Due to HB 3’s changes, TASB Policy Service rearranged its coding structure and placed all policies dealing with security personnel in the CKE series. Readers can now find all board-adopted policy provisions about security personnel in one section of your district’s manual.
Why does TASB recommend moving policy provisions?
Prior to HB 3, Policy Service placed provisions authorizing employees and board members to carry and use firearms at CKC(LOCAL), which deals with a district’s emergency operations plan.
However, HB 3 treats district officials authorized to carry firearms as an alternative or addition to district police officers or school resource officers (SROs). These authorized officials are part of ongoing security and safety measures, not just a part of the district’s emergency response. Policy Service now recommends that policy authorizing employees to carry firearms be addressed in the CKE series on security personnel.
Other Policies Related to Security Personnel
Districts that have police officers, marshals, or employees authorized to carry firearms should have language at DH(LOCAL) regarding an exception to the prohibition of weapons on district property for authorized personnel.
Districts that have police officers should have language at DEC(LOCAL) about leave specifically for police officers.
If your district needs to update your policies about security personnel, contact your policy consultant.
