Board renews 'good cause' exception to keep licensed armed security on campuses amid law-enforcement shortages

At its Sept. 27, 2025 regular meeting, the Harmony Public Schools - Houston South board approved an annual resolution tied to HB 121 to continue a "good cause" exception permitting licensed, armed Class C security officers to serve on district campuses instead of placing full-time sworn law-enforcement officers at each site.

The move followed a presentation by Speaker 4, who said the district is required to review the exception annually under recent state legislation and that the district prefers sworn law enforcement "as the gold standard" but faces a regional shortage of officers. "The gold standard is obviously to have full time ... law enforcement officers on campuses," Speaker 4 said, adding that multiple nearby cities told the district they could not provide officers on a guaranteed daily basis.

Speaker 4 provided the counts used in the presentation: "71 full‑time armed security officers, 1 part‑time and 7 full‑time armed law enforcement officers in some of our smaller cities," and described the district's continued outreach to law enforcement agencies and to security companies that hire retired officers. The presenter said the salary figures shown were salaries only and that using off‑duty sworn officers through contracting would increase overall costs.

Board members asked about funding sources and cost growth. Speaker 4 said there is no separate targeted state grant for the officers and that the district uses its safety allotment to pay these positions. The presentation described a change in the salary line from about $4,700,000 to roughly $6.34 million to reflect increased personnel, though the presenter did not provide a full line‑item breakdown at the meeting.

Speaker 2 moved to approve the resolution "as presented;" Speaker 1 seconded and the board voted 'aye.' The resolution was approved and will be signed after the meeting. The board also noted it will continue outreach to local law enforcement and security firms in an effort to increase sworn-officer coverage where possible.

The presentation and board discussion focused on operational and budgetary tradeoffs — availability and continuity of coverage, relationship-building with campuses through consistent security staff, and the higher direct cost of contracting for off‑duty sworn officers. The board did not adopt additional budget allocations at the meeting; details about any future budget adjustments were not specified.

The action on the HB 121-related resolution was recorded as approved in open session.