HUTTO — Hutto Independent School District has potentially figured out a more permanent way to approach House Bill 3.
During its Dec. 14 regular school board meeting, trustees approved a new pipeline that would hire two cadets in training to help fulfill new safety requirements.
Cara Malone, assistant superintendent of human resources for Hutto ISD, said officers through the program would complete one year of employment as a campus safety officer at Hutto ISD, meet all police hiring standards, including medical and psychological screenings that will be paid for by applicants, and commit to two years of employment in Hutto ISD after completion of the cadet academy.
“This would allow us to take two of those positions that are already approved and use them as cadets while they are in training,” Malone said. “They wouldn’t be paid at the same level of a police officer while they’re in training, but once they complete it, they would be paid as police officers.”
Hutto Independent School District trustees unanimously approve the implementation of the cadet training program Dec. 14. Screenshot from Dec. 14 Hutto ISD meeting
HB3 requires districts to have one armed officer at each campus, which started Sept. 1.
The state provides some funding under the law to implement the newly ordered safety requirements, $15,000 per campus and some additional funds based on student enrollment.
The two cadets will be paid $27.25 an hour for 960 total hours, which consists of about six months of work. The cost for the two cadets training is estimated at $54,920, according to Hutto ISD statistics presented to trustees.
While in the training stage, cadets will be employees of Hutto ISD and receive benefits.
Hutto ISD Police Chief William Edwards described to trustees that keeping officers in the same system will save the district on training costs in the long run.
“It brings about that importance of retaining those officers,” Edwards said. “This particular program is also very symbiotic between three departments, the safety department, the police department and the human resource department.”
