Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District officials updated the Facilities and Safety Committee on the district’s multi-layered approach to school safety, highlighting an expansion of its in-house “guardian” program and ongoing coordination with local, county and federal law-enforcement partners. "I thought it was important ... to provide you with an update on safety and security and the layers that we incorporate here within the district," said Danny Castillo during the committee meeting.

District leaders said the guardians are former law-enforcement practitioners who are focused on campus security without the broader administrative duties that typically pull police officers off assignment. Castillo described minimum hiring standards and training requirements as a key differentiator. "It's a minimum of five years law enforcement experience," Castillo said, and he said guardians must pass psychological, physical and state training standards and maintain firearm proficiency.

The district said it hired 10 new guardians for the coming school year and expects to reduce daily outsourced armed assignments — previously averaging about 15–17 per day — to roughly 5–7 per day once onboarding is complete. Administrators said the shift will lower the district’s day-to-day dependence on contracted officers while maintaining memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with city and county agencies for surge capacity.

Castillo described layered partnerships that include Harlingen Police Department school resource officers (four SROs assigned year-round with district reimbursement), MOUs with Cameron County constable precincts and emergency management, and space-sharing agreements with the Texas Department of Public Safety that let troopers use office space on five campuses. He also credited border-patrol tactical units for providing tactical medical and IFAC (individual first aid kit) training.

Administrators summarized the program’s training regimen: school-based law-enforcement training for guardians (the district follows the same standards used by active-duty officers), twice-yearly firearms qualification, first-aid/CPR/Narcan/Stop-the-Bleed refresher training, and advanced tactical alert trainings conducted at school sites over the summer. Castillo said the most recent advanced trainings included 15 separate law-enforcement agencies.

Board members and administrators repeatedly emphasized the guardians’ role as campus mentors and community-facing personnel, not only as armed responders. "You're symbolically, you're professionals that they look up to," Board member Dr. Perez told the guardians. He and other trustees praised the district’s multi-layered, partnership approach as an alternative to creating a standalone school police department.

Discussion — not action — took place at the committee meeting; trustees did not vote on any new contracts or staffing changes during the session. Castillo said the district had recently approved a one-year extension to some MOUs, but that approval occurred before this committee update.

Administrators said Narcan distribution and training are managed by the district’s nursing office and that the nasal opioid-reversal medication is assigned to guardians and to campus health clinics. The district said nurses and campus administrators have been trained and that donated doses and district supplies are in place.

The presentation concluded with administrators asking trustees to continue supporting layered partnerships and training as the district scales guardian staffing and maintains relationships with municipal, county, state and federal partners.