WFISD take action on school safety policy

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Wichita Falls ISD Board Trustees took action on implementing a new policy that will give school district officers more options in situations of conflict.

The board agenda for July 17 included them taking action on the policy and procedure for WFISD PD having electronic control devices.

It also included taking action regarding the WFISD PD rifle policy and procedure, including... lethal and non-lethal force.

The decision was unanimous by board members on Monday, July 17 after over an hour of deliberation in a closed session.

Superintendent Dr. Donny Lee said before officers could only pull their pistols in most conflict situations.

“Now there’s an option to use a tazer for instances that might involve less than lethal force. So the goal here is to keep everybody safe and that means the public, parents, and the students. We want to have multiple tools for our officers to keep everybody safe,” Dr. Lee said.

“With the tasers, those are not for students, especially below the age of 13. There are not going to be elementary kids getting tased and if I was one of the parents I would want to know that so these are for those situations for kids that are 13, 14 years, and above. So you’re talking middle school and high school students and that’s only in the very worst-case scenario.” Dr. Lee said

Board members also passed the new policy that allows district police to have more lethal options such as rifles. Dr. Lee said these rifles will be stored safely where only officers can access them and will only be used or even seen in the worst-case scenario.

Dr. Lee said this week they will start ordering these weapons and expects officers to have them before the first day of school this fall.

All officers will have to go through training and complete 90 hours before obtaining their tazer and rifle.

“We want parents to know that when they drop their child off at school, they’re going to receive their child back at home in the same manner they dropped them off,” Dr. Lee said.

According to Dr. Donny Lee, a lot of factors were taken into account before passing this decision and they feel they have made the right choice for the future safety of WFISD schools.

Copyright 2023 KAUZ. All rights reserved.