The Ector County

...in West Texas oil country, its major possession being almost the entirety of the city of Odessa, for some reason named after the shortgrass steppe of Odessa, Ukraine...

Independent School District (ECISD) passed a resolution in mid-August seeking an exemption from a new state law that requires every district to provide an armed guard at every school building, citing a deficient budget and lack of funds to afford the guards. Now, the district is giving its superintendent a pay increase.

The resolution, passed August 15, seeks an exemption from the armed security requirements of House Bill (HB) 3 by state Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) which was part of the state’s effort to increase school security in response to recent mass shootings, including the massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.

The new law requires every district to provide armed security at every school building within the district, however, there is a provision in which districts may seek an exemption from the law if they do not have sufficient funds to pay for the security.

“The District’s non-compliance is due to a lack of available funding. The District is currently operating under a deficit budget and is not able to finance hiring enough peace officers to immediately and fully comply,” the resolution says, adding they will provide a District police officer at every campus when funding becomes available.