LSC looks at new approach to school security officers

Lafayette school board vote coming in March on plan to hire a new security director and rely on full-time retired police officers in schools; stops short of an LSC police department.

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LSC LOOKS AT NEW APPROACH TO SECURITY DETAILS IN SCHOOLS, STOPS SHORT OF ITS OWN POLICE DEPARTMENT

Lafayette schools could start the 2025-26 school year with a new security team that relies on retired law enforcement officers instead of off-duty police officers, according to a plan under consideration by the school board.

The plan tops several options studied, including one that would have had LSC creating its own police department with a chief and full-time, uniformed officers.

The LSC school board is expected to vote on a security plan at its March 10 meeting, with a new security director hired by May and a team in place for the start of the new school year in August. Monday night, during a work session, the school board briefly discussed the plan.

The move stems from part of LSC’s strategic plan, which included a goal of adding school resource officers and developing a security team as part of a comprehensive safety plan for the district.

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“This is something we’ve been looking at for a while now,” Brandon Hawkins, LSC’s human services director, said Monday. “It’s not going to be far from what we’re doing now. But this really does give us a point person who will be the first call any time there’s a security question that comes up.”

LSC has hired off-duty police officers for more than 30 years. That has evolved into what Hawkins called a hybrid team that includes full-time retired officers, as the district found it more difficult to staff buildings with a rotating crew of off-duty officers.