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District proposes large expansion of school officers; board members press for data
Summary
District staff proposed doubling unarmed school officer positions and adding armed officers to cover all schools; board members asked for incident statistics, measures of climate impact and the number of social workers to weigh the change.
District security staff proposed increasing school security staffing substantially as part of the FY26 budget discussion, prompting questions from board members about scale, evidence and potential effects on school climate.
Security staff described a plan that would add 14 unarmed officers focused on elementary schools and three additional armed officers; later in the presentation staff said the proposal would bring the district to a total of 27 unarmed officers and 17 armed officers districtwide. “We will have a total of 27 unarmed officers and a total of 17 armed officers in our district,” a presenter said.
Board members expressed concern about the scale of the increase and asked for data supporting it. “This was very alarming to me to see that we are doubling the size of that fleet,” Board Member Linda Davis said, asking for programmatic justification and outcomes. Board Member Denson asked for statistics showing why the proposed increase is necessary and for information on social‑work staffing, noting studies that link higher officer presence with increased student arrests. “I would love to see some statistics that showed that we needed to have this large of an increase,” Denson said.
Security staff defended the proposal as a response to parent concerns and regional trends. Presenters said the proposal aims to ensure every elementary and secondary school has on‑site coverage; they noted town halls, emails from parents and similar moves in neighboring districts. Staff pointed to past incidents in which weapons were recovered at school and said student reports to administrators helped avoid worse outcomes.
Board members sought measurement and limits: requests included climate measures to monitor how students experience increased officer presence; comparative incident data; and a clear plan for staffing phasing rather than immediate full implementation. Several board members said they favor more preventative investments such as social work and mental‑health staff. Staff said the district currently employs roughly 14 social workers (including McKinney‑Vento services) and seven or eight psychologists, with some clinicians assigned districtwide and others at secondary buildings.
The security staffing proposal was presented as a budget item within the FY26 package and will be finalized if the board approves the overall budget and millage.
