| H-E-B halts plans for police force 04/13/2001 By Tawnell D. Hobbs / The Dallas Morning News The H-E-B school district has decided to postpone creating a district-run police department in the coming school year, saying it needs more time to discuss the matter with the cities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford.
Superintendent Gene Buinger had recommended the district create its own police force after an in-house evaluation indicated it was paying more than other districts to use city police officers as school resource officers.
"This delay will allow representatives of the school district and the three communities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford to participate in a study of the issues related to the establishment of a separate school district police department," Dr. Buinger said in a prepared statement.
"This study would be concluded by December 2001 in time for a recommendation to be developed for the 2002-2003 school year."
City officials had criticized the district for not giving sufficient notice to terminate their services. Some officials had said they would need at least a year to roll officers back into police departments.
Euless City Manager Joe Hennig said he was pleased with the decision, made by city officials and the district Thursday.
"There were significant issues here ... that just needed more consideration than the time they allotted," Mr. Hennig said.
Dr. Buinger could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The district had planned to implement a force of 11 police officers and a chief.
The H-E-B school district uses eight police officers from the cities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford as school resource officers. The district pays 100 percent of the officers' salary and benefits, or $58,190 a year per officer.
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