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).
All law enforcement agencies must be registered with TCOLE and officers must be under the commission of a TCOLE licensed agency to perform law-enforcement related duties.
“This is something we’ve done for a number of schools in our county. We always try to help out when we can,” said Sheriff Jeff Neal. “The school’s paying for everything, we’re carrying the commission while they’re getting their police agency off the ground.”
In a written statement, Wright said the decision not to renew the contract was made because the state will be giving $90,000 plus $20 per student to be used for a school safety program for the 2025-2026 school year.
“This will enable Hooks ISD to form their own police department as most school districts in Bowie County have already done so and this will enable Hooks ISD to fulfill their safety needs in a way that best suits the needs of Hooks ISD,” the statement said.
The funding Wright referred to is the school safety allotment, a part of the state’s Foundation School Program, which provides annual funds to school districts for safety and security initiatives. According to the Texas Education Agency’s website, the funds are for costs associated with equipment, programs and training where it relates to school safety.
Texas Senate Bill 260 (SB 260) increased the allotment from $15,000 to $30,000 per campus and from $10 to $20 per student. The increase takes effect September 1.
Tullis said the district had previously looked into the necessary steps to start a campus police department but had not been actively pursuing the endeavor.
“That is a lengthy process and, over the course of the past year with changes in our SRO capacity, there’s been questions about that. But that’s not something a district can just call tomorrow and say we’re going to have our own police department. There’s a whole TCOLE process that a district has to meet and we’ve done none of those steps nor initiated the beginning phase of them,” Tullis said.
The process takes about six to eight months and has a cost estimated at $300,000 and the district has not budgeted for the expense of starting its own police department, Tullis added.
Despite the controversy the decision created on social media, Tullis said the district is ready to put it in the past.
“Hooks ISD is going to move forward in a positive direction for the community and the past couple of days have put us in a position to come up with a … quick solution when we did not realize that this was on the radar. But from this point forward, we are dedicated to doing what’s best for the students and the staff and the community,” she said.
Tullis concluded,“We are working very hard, from this point forward, to work with everybody in the community, and that includes the City of Hooks, to do what’s best for Hooks, Texas.”
Officer Jay Hedges
