Leander district to form police department
The Leander school district is working to create its own police department to comply with a state law that requires an armed officer or employee at every public school campus.
House Bill 3, the school safety bill the Legislature passed this spring, took effect Sept. 1. Along with other reporting and security requirements, the law mandates one armed officer on every campus with some room for exceptions, such as for funding or staffing issues.
Lawmakers passed the law partly in response to the May 24, 2022, mass shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
Leander officials said a school district police department will help its campus security, which includes district-appointed, armed marshals and school resource officers at each high school, through a partnership with the Cedar Park and Leander police departments and the Travis County sheriff’s office. “The safety and security of our students and staff is the district’s top priority,” Board President Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia said after a vote by the school board on Nov. 30 to create the police department.
The district still has to apply to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to be authorized to create a police department. Once approved, the district can start hiring its own officers.
To meet the requirements of HB 3, the creation of an in-house police department would have 35 officers for middle school and high schools and 32 marshals for its elementary and alternative schools.
The board also approved a budget amendment of $1.1 million to provide initial funding for 10 officers, an administrative assistant, an assistant chief of police and a chief of police.
Nearby, the Austin school district is readying to hire 75 new officers — nearly doubling its police force — which is expected to cost $5.8 million, to comply with the new law.
In June, the Eanes school district said it would hire nine officers and spend $1.6 million to create a new school police department. District officials said they’d planned on creating the force before HB 3 was passed.
Statesman staff writer Keri Heath contributed to this report.