Board approves three‑year SRO interlocal and selects armed‑guard vendors to ensure full‑time coverage

The Pearland Independent School District Board of Trustees on June 24 approved a three‑year interlocal agreement with the City of Pearland to continue the district’s school resource officer (SRO) program and separately approved qualifying armed‑guard vendors to provide full‑time armed coverage at elementary and middle schools.

Superintendent Dr. Berger told trustees the SRO interlocal would cover 2025–26 through 2027–28, maintain 11 SROs and return to one sergeant (the district previously had an additional sergeant to supervise an off‑duty rotation). Berger said the district continues to contract with the city because Pearland ISD does not operate its own police department; the district pays approximately 83 percent of the program cost, which Berger described as beginning at about $1,480,000 in year one and rising toward $1,600,000 by 2027–28. "We are keeping the same number of qualified SROs at our campuses full time," Berger said.

Trustees then considered a separate procurement for armed‑guard services to ensure eight‑hour, full‑time coverage at 11 elementary and four middle schools. Berger said the district issued an RFP, received 14 proposals and shortlisted three firms to approve for negotiation and contracting so the district has backup capacity if a vendor cannot meet coverage. He told the board the top three firms were Jet Security, Good Guard Texas and Spirit D Security. He emphasized contractor requirements: Texas Department of Public Safety licensing, firearm certification and active‑shooter response training, de‑escalation, CPR and annual range qualifications; many prospective guards are retired officers or veterans, Berger said.

Trustees pressed administration on continuity (whether the same guard would be assigned to a campus), supervisory structure, how guards would interact with students, coordination with Pearland PD and other law enforcement and the extent to which evaluation weights favored cost versus reputation. Trustees were told that vendor reputation, references and prior school experience were part of the evaluation, although price carried substantial weight in scoring. Dr. Berger said the district will meet with chosen vendors to confirm continuity and to require prior campus experience where the board prefers it.

The board approved both the interlocal agreement and the vendor awards by unanimous votes. Administration said projected total security spending would increase versus the prior year as the district moves from off‑duty rotations to consistent full‑time armed coverage; the district estimates the combined cost impact and offset from the state's safety allotment when fully implemented.