By Susan Lindsey
Staff Reporter
In a split decision, the Hooks City Council surprised the school district when they did not renew the contract for a school resource officer (SRO) in last Monday’s regular meeting.
“We were not aware of their intent to cancel the contract,” said Lisa Tullis, human resources and public information at Hooks ISD. “The city did not notify us after the meeting that the contract had not been renewed. We were actually notified by community members that were attending.”
Jimmy Cochran and Cosman Jones were outnumbered in a three to two vote against renewing the SRO contract with Hooks Independent School District.
Rhett Tuggle, Jeff Parker and Gary Wright cast the dissenting votes.
Wright was acting in his capacity as mayor pro tem because Mayor Marc Reiter was not in attendance.
The SRO contract provided the district with a police officer hired by the Hooks Police Department to be positioned to provide law enforcement presence on the campuses. It was a partnership that had existed between the district and the city for about 15 years.
According to the information provided to the Tribune, the Hooks ISD was billed monthly for a total cost of $76,819.12 plus an additional $0.67 per mile for the assigned officer during school hours and at campus functions for the 2024-2025 school year.
The contract was set to expire on August 31.
Tullis said the district immediately went into making decisions on a school safety program for the upcoming school year before students return on August 13.
“Tuesday was primarily spent working with the Bowie County Sheriff to implement a program immediately,” Tullis said. “I don’t know that that should have been necessary because of the lack of communication leading to the decision leading to the district being caught off guard.”
The district hired former SRO and Hooks PD officer Jay Hedges. The Bowie County Sheriff’s Office agreed to carry the commission with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).
To see much more of this developing story at Hooks ISD, see the Wednesday, July 30 issue of your community newspaper, the Bowie County Citizens Tribune.
