Lago Vista ISD claims officer exception, security budget $302,600

The Lago Vista Independent School District board voted 6-0 on Oct. 19, 2026, to claim a "good cause exception" to a state law that requires an armed officer at every campus during school hours.^1,2 Board President Kevin Walker moved to approve it without the draft's lack-of-funding wording because "it is a resourcing issue from the city."³ For taxpayers, the resolution names no dollar amount, and the district's 2026-27 budget sets $302,600 for security.^4,5 Last year's General Fund security budget was also $302,600, and by July the district had spent $359,166, or $56,566 more than budgeted.⁶

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A two-host briefing. The voices are AI generated. Read the transcript.

Four small wooden schoolhouse models sit on a worn classroom desk. Navy chess knights stand in front of the first two, and a third stands on a covered walkway joining the last two. A chalk circle marks an empty spot. AI illustration, not a real scene from Lago Vista. — Three knights guard four schoolhouses. AI illustration. Image credits.

What the state law requires

House Bill 3 (HB 3), a 2023 state law, added Section 37.0814 to the Education Code. It requires the board to make sure at least one armed security officer is present at each campus during regular school hours. That officer must be a school district peace officer, a school resource officer (SRO), or a commissioned peace officer employed as security.² In Lago Vista, SROs are city police officers, and the district pays most of their pay and benefits.^4,7

A board that cannot comply may claim a good cause exception if the shortfall is due to funding or to a lack of qualified personnel.² The board must then develop an alternative standard it can meet. A 2025 law, House Bill 121 (HB 121), says an exception expires on the first anniversary of the day it is claimed. The board must then reevaluate and, if it still cannot comply, renew the claim and the alternative standard.⁸ The board must also keep records and give them to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on request.^2,4 Voters elect the district's seven trustees, who serve without pay.⁹

How it started in 2023

On Aug. 7, 2023, Darren Webb, then the district's superintendent, told the board there were three ways to meet HB 3. He named a Marshal plan, a Guardian plan, and an SRO.¹⁰ State law lets a district use a school marshal, or a trained employee who carries a handgun, as an alternative.² He said the district would need a good cause exception plan. He had also talked with Chief Boshears of the Lago Vista Police Department (LVPD) about getting an SRO.¹⁰

On Aug. 31, 2023, the board held a special meeting with a good cause resolution on its agenda.¹¹ The district's safety page says the board voted that day to claim the exception because of a lack of adequate funding and qualified personnel.¹² The September 2023 packet lists the Aug. 31 minutes for approval but does not include their text.¹⁰

On Sept. 11, 2023, Webb walked the board through a draft agreement with the city for an SRO. The district would pay 55% of the first-year pay and benefits, because that year would start in January 2024, he said. In the second year it would pay 71.5%. He said $75,000 was budgeted for that year and the cost came in under it.¹³ On Oct. 16, 2023, Walker moved to approve the agreement, trustee Rich Raley seconded, and it passed 6-0.¹⁴

Adding officers, 2024 to 2026

On Oct. 17, 2024, trustee Isai Arredondo moved and Raley seconded an addendum to add an SRO while the district kept using security guards. It passed 6-0.¹⁵

On Oct. 16, 2025, Webb reminded the board that the plan was to add one SRO each year over four years. The district then had two SROs, with security guards at the elementary and intermediate campuses. Raley moved and trustee Jerrell Roque seconded a third SRO for the elementary school, and it passed 7-0 on a roll call. Webb said the district's share of pay would stay at 71.2%.⁷

On Feb. 9, 2026, the board voted 7-0 to adopt Update 126, a set of policy updates from the Texas Association of School Boards, with one change to an agenda rule.¹⁶ The packet's notes say the update added HB 121 language on expiration and renewal of good cause exceptions.¹⁷

The city's side, Aug. 24, 2026

Ron Joy was then the city's police chief and also its acting city manager.^18,19 Our Oct. 10 story reported that Joy laid out a city budget request for an SRO on Aug. 24, 2026. He said the district pays 71.5% of that officer's pay and benefits, which leaves about $43,000 for the city.¹⁸

At that meeting he also said the high school officer had taken a job in another community. Patrol officers were filling in at the school, he said. He said the city had hired an officer, who was already on duty at the intermediate campus.¹⁸

The Oct. 19 agenda

The district's notice set a public hearing and regular meeting for 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, at Lago Vista High School. The agenda listed "Consider Approval of Good Cause Exception to House Bill 3" as item 6.⁴

The draft resolution said the district could not ensure an armed officer at each campus during regular school hours. It said the shortfall was due to a lack of available funding and a lack of qualified personnel. Its alternative plan began with the city agreement for an SRO at each of four campuses. It added that one SRO had resigned after school began and "has not been replaced." The remaining three SROs now cover the high school, an elementary school, and the adjoining middle and intermediate campuses.⁴

The plan had other steps. The police department would "provide increased patrols and campus walkthroughs" at the middle and intermediate campuses. A person now in peace officer training is expected to be hired and assigned as an SRO when 2027-28 begins. The district would also look at other options the law allows.⁴

The discussion

Walker, the chair, turned to a district staff member he called Mr. Holt. The video of this item gives no first name or title for Holt.²⁰ Holt said the high school officer had taken a job in Round Rock, which left the district with three SROs. He said the police department has someone "in the hopper right now that will be ready for next year." If all goes to plan, he said, the district will be "back to four."²¹

Holt said one SRO now covers both the intermediate and middle schools. The state requires an officer on every campus "footprint," he said, and TEA counts those two schools as "two different footprints." He said the police department "feels comfortable with one person covering both campuses."²¹ He told the board the exception "is not due to funding" and is "due to staffing from the police department."²² The draft in the packet still listed a lack of funding as a cause.⁴

Lago Vista ISD board meeting, October 19, 2026, from 32:50 to 34:14 in the school district's video. Mr. Holt speaks. Trimmed only at the start and end. Watch the full meeting from this moment. Video credits.

A trustee, whom the video does not name, said they assumed the item had been "taken through legal" and was fine. The same trustee asked whether one officer for those two campuses was the best fit. Holt said the schools share "the same cafeteria" and "the same lower gym."²³ Another speaker said that if the property were one campus number, "only one would be required." The speaker said the two schools have separate campus numbers, so the law requires a second officer.²⁴

A speaker asked whether trouble at one campus would lock down the other. The answer on the video was yes. Another speaker then said "the entire district would lock down."²⁵

Lago Vista ISD board meeting, October 19, 2026, from 34:16 to 35:48 in the school district's video. Trustees and district staff speak. Trimmed only at the start and end. Watch the full meeting from this moment. Video credits.

The motion and the vote

Walker said, "to get ahead of an amendment, I'll make the motion." He moved to approve the resolution "as presented with two edits." The edit he described would remove the lack of available funding as a cause. His reason was that "it's not a funding issue, it is a resourcing issue from the city." He said that wording should be "removed from the fifth and sixth column." The video does not show which lines of the resolution he meant.³

Another trustee said, "I second." The video does not show who it was. Walker restated the motion as adopting the resolution "with the removal of funding references" and a second. He asked for hands in favor, then asked who opposed, and announced 6-0.¹

Lago Vista ISD board meeting, October 19, 2026, from 35:50 to 36:34 in the school district's video. Board President Kevin Walker makes the motion, and trustees vote. Trimmed only at the start and end. Watch the full meeting from this moment. Video credits.

How they voted

The video shows a show-of-hands vote that the chair announced as 6-0.¹ The minutes for this meeting are not yet posted, so we cannot confirm any trustee's vote. The board has seven members. They are President Walker of Place 7, Vice President Arredondo of Place 3, and Secretary David Scott of Place 6. The others are Sara Jane Cantwell of Place 1, Michele Coronis of Place 2, Raley of Place 4, and Brian Caller of Place 5.⁹ The video does not show which trustee did not vote or whether one was absent.¹

What it means for you

The resolution names no dollar amount and sets no new spending. Its plan relies on city police patrols and on a future hire.⁴ The security line in the adopted 2026-27 budget is titled "Security and Monitoring" and totals $302,600.⁵ The district's July 2026 report shows 2025-26 security spending at 118.69% of its budget.⁶ The records we reviewed do not split out what the district pays the city for officers.⁵

The district's share of an SRO's pay was 71.2% in the Oct. 16, 2025 minutes.⁷ The city's police chief gave 71.5% on Aug. 24, 2026. He said the rest of the cost to the city is mostly overtime, uniforms, and equipment.¹⁸ With one post empty, the records we reviewed do not say whether the district pays less.⁴

The exception lasts one year from the day it is claimed. The board must then reevaluate and, if needed, renew it.⁸ The packet expects a new SRO when 2027-28 begins.⁴

Where it stands

The board adopted the resolution with the funding references removed.¹ The packet copy we reviewed has blank signature lines and no adoption date.⁴ The board holds regular meetings on the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m.⁹

What we could not find

Who seconded the motion, and which trustee did not vote. The minutes are not yet posted.¹
Which lines Walker meant by the "fifth and sixth column," and whether his "two edits" were one change made in two places.³
The resolution as adopted and signed.⁴
Whether legal counsel reviewed the item. A trustee raised the question, and the video shows no answer.²³
Who asked to put the item on the agenda. The notice does not say.⁴
Holt's first name and title.²⁰
The signed city agreement and its addenda, and what the district paid the city in 2025-26.⁷
The records the law requires the board to keep on its alternative standard.²
Whether the board renewed its 2023 exception, or how long the district met the rule.¹²
Minutes of the Aug. 31, 2023 vote.¹¹

What you can do

Read the Oct. 19 packet on BoardBook.⁴
Ask the district for the signed resolution, the city agreement and every addendum, and the alternative standard records. Ask too for payments to the city for SROs in 2025-26 and 2026-27. The Texas Public Information Act makes records of public spending public information.²⁶
Speak at a board meeting. Speakers sign up in person between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the day.⁴

If you have records on this, you can share them with us at /share-records. We protect your identity and publish the evidence when we can do so safely.

Podcast transcript

Read the transcript

Host 1. This is the Lago Vista Watchdog briefing. The two voices you are hearing are AI generated. Every fact in this episode is sourced in the full story on our website, and a person validates each story before it is published.

Host 2. Here is the bottom line. This story is about the school district's armed officer rule and what it means for taxpayers. The Lago Vista Independent School District board voted 6 to 0 on October 19, 2026, to claim a good cause exception to a state law that requires an armed officer at every campus during school hours.

Host 1. Board President Kevin Walker moved to approve it without the draft's lack of funding wording, because, he said, it is a resourcing issue from the city. For taxpayers, the resolution names no dollar amount. The district's 2026-27 budget sets 302,600 dollars for security.

Host 2. Last year's General Fund security budget was also 302,600 dollars. By July, the district had spent 359,166 dollars, or 56,566 dollars more than budgeted, according to the district's July financial report.

Host 1. Now a quick guide. House Bill 3, a 2023 state law, requires the board to make sure at least one armed security officer is present at each campus during regular school hours. That officer can be a school resource officer, or SRO. In Lago Vista, SROs are city police officers, and the district pays most of their pay and benefits.

Host 2. A board that cannot comply may claim a good cause exception if the shortfall is due to funding or to a lack of qualified personnel. It must then develop an alternative standard it can meet. A 2025 law called House Bill 121 says an exception expires on the first anniversary of the day it is claimed. Then the board must reevaluate and, if it still cannot comply, renew it.

Host 1. Now, in order, here is how we got here. On August 7, 2023, Darren Webb, then the superintendent, told the board there were three ways to meet the law, and that the district would need a good cause exception plan.

Host 2. On August 31, 2023, the board held a special meeting with a good cause resolution on its agenda. The district's safety page says the board voted that day to claim the exception because of a lack of adequate funding and qualified personnel.

Host 1. That fall, the board approved an agreement with the city for its first SRO. Webb said the district would pay 55 percent of that officer's first-year pay and benefits, and 71.5 percent in the second year.

Host 2. The board added a second SRO in October 2024. In October 2025, it approved a third, for the elementary school. Webb said the plan was to add one SRO each year over four years, and that the district's share of pay would stay at 71.2 percent.

Host 1. On August 24, 2026, Ron Joy, then the city's police chief and acting city manager, told the City Council the district pays 71.5 percent of an SRO's pay and benefits. That leaves about 43,000 dollars for the city. He said the high school officer had taken a job in another community, and that the city had hired an officer who was already on duty at the intermediate campus.

Host 2. The packet for the October 19 meeting held a draft resolution. It said the shortfall was due to a lack of available funding and a lack of qualified personnel. It said one SRO had resigned after school began and has not been replaced. The remaining three SROs now cover the high school, an elementary school, and the adjoining middle and intermediate campuses.

Host 1. The plan called for more police patrols and campus walkthroughs at the middle and intermediate campuses. A person now in peace officer training is expected to be hired and assigned as an SRO when the 2027-28 school year begins.

Host 2. At the meeting, a district staff member the chair called Mr. Holt explained the item. He said the police department has someone in the hopper right now that will be ready for next year. If all goes to plan, he said, the district will be back to four.

Host 1. Holt said the state counts the intermediate and middle schools as two different footprints, and the police department feels comfortable with one person covering both campuses. He told the board the exception is not due to funding, and is due to staffing from the police department.

Host 2. A trustee asked whether one officer for those two campuses was the best fit. Holt said the schools share the same cafeteria and the same lower gym. Another speaker said that if the property were one campus number, only one officer would be required.

Host 1. Walker then made the motion, to approve the resolution as presented with two edits, removing the lack of available funding. Another trustee seconded. The video does not show who. Walker asked for a show of hands and announced the vote as 6 to 0.

Host 2. The minutes for this meeting are not yet posted, so we cannot confirm any trustee's vote. The board has seven members, so we also do not know which trustee did not vote or whether one was absent.

Host 1. What does it mean for you? The resolution sets no new spending. The records we reviewed do not split out what the district pays the city for officers, and they do not say whether the district pays less while one post is empty. The exception lasts one year from the day it is claimed.

Host 2. You can read the October 19 packet on BoardBook, and you can ask the district for the signed resolution, the city agreement, and its payments to the city for SROs. You can also speak at a board meeting. Speakers sign up in person between half past 5 and 6 p.m. on the day. Thanks for listening to the Lago Vista Watchdog.

Sources and documents

Every fact in this story comes from the records below. The small numbers in the story point to them. Links go to the exact moment in the meeting video or the page in the document.

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