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- 2023 VATRE Proposition A Information
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How Will FBISD Spend VATRE Prop A Revenues?
Fund State Safety Mandate for Additional Security Personnel
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- A new statewide mandate requires armed security at every campus, but the state did not provide sufficient funds for the cost of qualified armed security, an annual cost of $2.5M.
➤ See how FBISD VATRE Proposition A will also fund Teachers & Staff
VATRE Prop A - Fund State Safety Mandate for Additional Security Personnel
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Why is $2.5M needed for Safety and Security?
The state has mandated the District to have armed personnel at each campus. This mandate is not fully funded. FBISD’s current plan is to contract with armed security firms. This will have an annual cost of $2.5M. If the district is not successful with the election, additional cost savings will have to be identified to fund the new expense. There is a shortage of police officers across the State and the increase in police pay from the VATRE should enable the district to hire more officers and replace the armed security guards over time.
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Why hire armed security guards instead of bringing in guardians, marshals, or our own police officers?
School districts have several options for obtaining security services at school facilities. School districts weigh these options based on factors such as district need, size, cost, and roles and responsibilities. Fort Bend ISD is now legislatively required to ensure that every campus has an armed person at each campus during regular school hours. Fort Bend ISD already employs its own school district police department with 76 sworn police officers. Those officers are assigned to all secondary campuses, elementary patrol, investigations, and administrative functions. With the new legislation, Fort Bend ISD must hire fifty (50) armed personnel to be in compliance. The VATRE in November 2022 included $4M to add police officers at each elementary school. Unfortunately, the election was not successful.
Security personnel options include giving local authorization for selected staff to carry a firearm on campus (more commonly referred to as the guardian program), school marshals, uniformed private security, or additional FBISD Police Officers.
The District desires to have a well-trained, uniformed presence on campus as opposed to a plain clothes civilian. Uniformed private security, or police officers, also allow the security personnel to focus entirely on the security of their assigned campus as opposed to having overlapping roles and responsibilities such as a teacher, coach, or administrator. The uniformed presence allows for immediate recognition by students, staff and visitors who may need assistance as well as providing an immediate visual deterrence for a person who may pose a threat. Recognizing there is a nationwide shortage of police officers, the District will contract with private security companies to provide personnel who are armed, trained, and credentialed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement until such time as the District can staff each campus with a Fort Bend ISD Police Officer. Our current pay for police officers is not enough to fill existing vacancies. Once salaries are increased to be competitive with neighboring districts and other law enforcement agencies, the goal is to begin replacing the armed security guards with district police officers.
