SAN MARCOS, Texas — At a special called meeting on Tuesday night, the San Marcos CISD Board of Trustees discussed how to make the district's schools safer, including finalizing plans for school marshals.
A school marshal is someone appointed by a school district who is allowed to carry a concealed handgun on campus. School marshals' identities are kept confidential, but Andrew Fernandez with San Marcos CISD told KVUE the school marshal can identify themselves.
In April, San Marcos CISD voted to initiate a school marshal program, despite some in the community asking district leaders to vote against it.
San Marcos CISD's proposed plan advocates for eight school marshals – ideally retired law enforcement or military members – to protect elementary school campuses.
At the meeting on Tuesday, the Board of Trustees was provided a list of names of people who applied for the job. Fernandez said some applicants come from backgrounds ranging from the CIA and FBI to local law enforcement, while some also served as a police chief in a school district prior to applying to San Marcos.
The school marshal plan did draw opposition from community members concerned about the presence of concealed guns on campus carried by people they do not know.
Bonnie Bevers is a youth pastor who regularly works with San Marcos students and parents.
"My students [are] almost unanimously are against it. They don't like it, they are stressed about it. They don't like the idea of more guns on campus, and it makes a lot of them scared to go back to school," Bevers said.
Fernandez said the City is having trouble finding patrol officers, so finding a school resource officer is even harder. The school marshal program was a recommendation by the police chief as "the next best thing."
Fernandez said the process to narrow down applicants was not easy and was extensive.
"I cannot reiterate enough that anyone who is hired in San Marcos has to go through an extensive background check, multiple extensive backgrounds checks, multiple trainings. And so, even with the school board approving an applicant tonight, they do not become official until they finalize all the training that we have provided to them," Fernandez said.
After finalization, Fernandez said the school marshal will be assigned to a campus and the school's principal will be informed who the person is.
The board's discussion comes as several other school districts in Central Texas are also taking steps to increase school safety.
Hays CISD recently approved adding three school resource officers (SROs) ahead of the new school year. Austin ISD is looking to hire 74 more SROs, plus additional support staff like detectives, lieutenants and dispatchers. And Del Valle ISD plans to hire more police officers and a special safety coordinator.
These pushes toward increased school safety come in response to House Bill 3, which will go into effect on Sept. 1. It requires every school in the state of Texas to have an armed security guard and provide mental health training for certain employees.