Carthage ISD to hire off-duty police officers for added campus security
Panola County TX Feb 21 2020
Carthage ISD has decided to hire off-duty police officers to act as campus security through the rest of the school year.
Trustees unanimously voted Monday to place security officers at each of its campuses every day to ensure safety for students and staff, at a cost of $82,000, beginning this week. The district said that cost was within budget, and they were also looking at continuing the program into next year.
Libby Elementary School and Carthage Primary School would share an officer. The officers would only be responsible for security issues, not discipline issues.
“Their job is to provide safety and security, visibility and to help us troubleshoot any potential problems that could happen at the school,” Superintendent John Wink said.
Officers will begin shifts at 7 a.m. and stay through the end of the school day, with Wink noting they’d be “present for visibility, but also ensuring to check the security of the building, making sure doors are locked (and) being at high-traffic areas during class changes or cafeterias during lunch.”
The district was already using off-duty officers for security at both its junior high and high school campuses in the wake of an anonymous threat. Wink said they’ve seen positive reactions from the community regarding that.
“I think it’s been very good,” Wink said. “They’re building relationships with students and with parents. Deputy Mojica was there the other day with his dog, and so he was a popular guy that day. I’m looking forward to the impact these officers will make.”
The school is coordinating with the Carthage Police Department and the Panola County Sheriff’s Office to allow off-duty officers to volunteer for security shifts at the schools. Wink said the program appeared to be popular with officers too; When they first created a calendar for shifts, it took about a week for police volunteers to completely fill all the slots.
“I do want to commend both the sheriff and the chief for their partnership in putting all this together,” Wink said. “They’ve been very instrumental and very helpful in building this process”
Trustees also unanimously approved spending $49,842 to repair about 150 existing security cameras across the district and to add extra cameras at Carthage High School and Carthage Primary School.
“A lot of them are getting to where they’re 7, 8, 9 years old, and a lot of them have been out in the sun for all that time,” Assistant Superintendent of Operations Steve Zurline said. “We’re looking to get those cleaned up and fixed, and then as time goes on, we’ve seen other areas that we need to cover better, whether it’s inside or outside the campuses.”
Productive Solutions was awarded the bid.
