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Plano to Bring School Resource Officers Back to its Middle Schools

A partnership between the city and Plano ISD calls for hiring 15 new officers who will not only provide security but also crime prevention, mentoring, safety training and a full-time presence at its campuses.

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(TNS) - Plano Police are going back to middle school, where most campuses in the city have been without school resource officers for more than a decade.

A partnership between the city and Plano ISD calls for hiring 15 new officers who will not only provide security but also crime prevention, mentoring, safety training and a full-time presence at its campuses.

Plano Police Chief Gregory W. Rushin told the city council that adding more SROs is a priority.

"I don't think you can really quantify the good that the school resource officers do above and beyond being security in the schools," said Rushin, who worked as a school resource officer when Plano's program began in 1983.

A survey of 12 area school districts showed Plano ISD was the only one that didn't have SROs at the middle school level. The positions were eliminated during city budget cuts in 2008 and 2009.

Plano ISD currently has nine school resource officers - one at each high school and senior high school except for Academy High School, which opened in 2013. And the school resource officer at Fowler Middle School in Plano is funded entirely by Frisco ISD because the school is in that school district.

The plan would station a school resource officer in each of Plano ISD's 11 middle schools, add a second officer to its three senior highs and place one at Academy High. The middle school SROs would also serve the elementary schools.

In 2013, Plano ISD launched a campus protection plan, which has off-duty officers from Plano, Collin County and other agencies sign up for one of seven shifts each day at middle and elementary schools.

But the shifts don't always get filled. And what those officers provide compared with the duties of an SRO is night and day, Rushin said. SROs offer more consistency, they get to know the school better and they interact more with students and staff, Rushin said.

Increased threats

The need for more school resource officers is apparent, given today's climate and the increase in school shootings across the country, Rushin said. Since Jan. 1, Plano police have responded to 26 threats involving its schools. Those threats ranged from shooting up the school to bringing a gun to killing teachers or students. Three of the calls involved weapons: one gun, one facsimile of a gun and one knife, Rushin said.

The Plano City Council voted unanimously on Monday to make the budget and staffing changes required to start hiring new officers beginning April 1. Agreements with Plano ISD and Frisco ISD, which has one middle school in Plano, were also updated.

Plano ISD will consider the plan at an upcoming meeting. Officers' salaries would be split equally between the city and the school district. The plan calls for Plano ISD to purchase vehicles for the middle school officers. The city has agreed to pay for half of the costs of vehicle maintenance and fuel.

Costs to the city total more than $1.1 million over two years, with the bulk of the money needed for the hiring, training and equipment.

'A No. 1 priority'


Because of the lengthy hiring process for police, the city anticipates the 15 new school officers will be in place beginning August 2019.

Plano City Manager Bruce Glasscock applauded the much-needed boost to the schools.

"When we talk about Plano being a safe community and the public saying that's a No. 1 priority, this is a piece of our safety net that has been lacking...

"It's a basic service we need to be providing," Glasscock added. "Those students are our students."

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