La Feria Independent School District hires armed security officers
La Feria, TX August 15 2022 The La Feria Independent School District on Friday voted to hire armed security guards for all of the district’s campuses.
It’s the first time the district will have armed security.
The decision is an effort by the school district to shorten response time in case of an emergency.
“Even though we know our police because we are a small community, is only two to three minutes away, we felt that having somebody on campus with immediate reaction at the campus would provide safety and the parents and our community would feel a little bit more comfortable knowing we had that support,” said La Feria ISD Superintendent Cynthia Torres.
School district administration suggested contracting a total of eight officers through an outside agency for one year. They intend to have an armed security guard at every campus. Two would be assigned to the high school.
One family says they’re still worried about the safety of students. Sherry Lopez is spending the last few days of summer with her grandchildren before La Feria ISD starts school on Monday. Lopez says she’s worried about the safety of her grandchildren.
“I guess with what happened in Uvalde, everybody has that fear that the same thing can happen anywhere,” Lopez said.
Torres says parents can rest easy knowing the school district will consider several factors to ensure officers meet expectations.
“The security, their training, their protocols, what have they had in the past, what is their references that they have, what situations all of those questions,” Torres said.
Funding for the armed guards will come from the elementary and secondary school emergency relief grant, also called ESSER. The estimated pay would be between $25,000 to $30,000 a year per security guard.
The school board is now searching for an outside security agency to contract. Administration will select a few to present at the next board meeting on Sept. 12. District leaders hope to have the armed guards at schools by late September.
