Hearing Governor Abbott outline his plan for school safety confirmed what CCISD Police Chief Kirby Warnke already knew; his department is ahead of the curve when it comes to safety.
“Looking at it and hearing what he says, it reinforces that what we’re doing is the right thing to do,” said Warnke.
According to Warnke, CCISD has always followed Texas School Safety Center guidelines.
“We’ve been strategically doing this stuff building up to the point we’re at now for over a decade now,” said Warnke.
One thing which stood out to Warnke was Governor Abbott’s suggestion schools take advantage of Texas Tech’s Telemedicine Wellness Intervention Triage and Referral project, TWITR. Through TWITR, the Governor believes districts will be able to identify potential risks sooner.
“We have intervention strategies, this may be better than what we’re doing so we will look at it,” said Warnke. “We are never satisfied with status quo, we’re always looking to improve.”
The Governor also mentioned more school security, including increased police presence and marshals. Warnke says if the state provides the money, he’ll hire more officers. But what CCISD doesn’t have are school marshals. Warnke says he’s got mixed feelings about arming more staff, however he would be open to the idea if the board okays it.
“If the decision was made, we’d make it happen; if it’s not we’ll keep doing what we’re doing and working hard to keep these schools safe,” said Warnke.
