PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — A new Texas law, House Bill 3, requires all school districts to have an armed guard on every campus during school hours. But some districts are struggling to make that happen.
On Thursday night, Pflugerville ISD claimed an exemption to the law. The district said it is struggling to hire for those required positions while competing with other districts offering higher pay for the same officers.
The district is considering an option to "grow its own" police force, where it will route standing employees to the police academy if they are interested. But even that comes at a cost of about $45,000 per cadet.
"As I've spoken to principals and campuses, when I go to that elementary and I ask, 'Who's it going to be?', if no one raises their hand, we're going to have to have an alternative option there," Pflugerville ISD Police Chief Patrick Petherbridge said.
If a Texas school district doesn't have the money or people to hire an armed guard for every campus, it can claim a "good cause exemption" to the law, allowing it to use school marshals instead.
School marshals can carry a gun on campus, but they don't have to be trained officers. Some may be retired police officers, but even a teacher could apply for a marshal position, depending on the district.
Pflugerville ISD Police also want to hire five more officers to focus exclusively on elementary schools.
Pflugerville ISD isn't the only Central Texas district having trouble meeting House Bill 3's requirements.
Last week, Hays CISD board members unanimously approved claiming a "good cause" exemption to the law's requirements due to the lack of available, qualified officers.
Manor ISD said it plans to pass an exception and adopt a local plan on Sept. 18, and Leander and Georgetown ISDs also anticipated they would claim good cause exemptions. Georgetown ISD plans to create a school marshal program, something San Marcos CISD has also done.