New Law Places Armed Officer at New Tech

Neill Plemons

10/12/2023

Juan Rivera, an armed officer, started his job last month at Belton New Tech @Waskow. His role is based on the new state law, House Bill 3, that requires an armed guard at every campus in Texas. However, what remains to be seen is how students and staff will respond to the change.

Belton ISD earlier in September released a statement to BISD families and the community acknowledging the new law.

“Belton ISD is seeking a good cause exception because of the lack of personnel available to fulfill the requirements. The alternate standard will be to contract with a private company to provide 19 armed security guards, who will serve in addition to the district’s nine school resource officers,” the BISD update said.  “These security guards will be designated staff to act solely in the capacity of armed security at all BISD campuses, adding another important layer to the district’s security systems and procedures.”

Officer Rivera sat down for an interview to share his background and discuss his role on campus.

“I am a retired veteran where I served 20 years in security across the world. After retirement, I specialized in creating the security departments of multiple private and start up schools in the Austin area. I was in charge of security, drills, Stop-the-Bleed classes. But this is my first time in public schools.”

Officer Rivera emphasized why he felt a duty to work in schools after the military.

“I have been protecting others for 20 plus years, first for my country and now my community. I strive for that. And what better way than to strive to protect our youth so we don’t have another Uvalde or another Santa Fe.”

The tragedy of Uvalde was a critical reason that House Bill 3 was introduced and passed in this latest legislative session at the Texas capitol. Reported in The Washington Post, the families of Uvalde victims had been extremely vocal in their desire for action from the state government on the matter of school shootings. Gov. Abbott declined to consider legislation on gun control, opting instead to sign House Bill 3 as the state’s answer to increasing student safety.

Although the state believes this solution will make families and students safer, not all at New Tech shared the same point of view.

“For me personally, I don’t like having guns close by,” said Mr. Charles Rodarte, a chemistry and disc golf teacher at New Tech. “Guns don’t necessarily make me feel safer, but I do think our security is covered for how few students we have.”

Mr. Rodarte acknowledges that students in the past few years have grown increasingly anxious about the prospect of school shootings, leading to greater anxious behavior in the classroom and more students asking about school safety plans.

Mrs. Poppenhusen, a special education teacher on campus, embodied this anxiety when she first saw Officer Rivera.

“At first I thought something had happened on campus, but then I remembered that he is going to be a permanent presence on campus.”

But Mrs. Poppenhusen had other questions about how BISD’s alternative solution in contracting with a third party–rather than directly hiring officers–would affect Officer Rivera himself.

“I’m curious about that officer’s compensation and employee rights since he is not an employee of BISD,” stated Mrs. Poppenhusen.

Belton ISD was far from alone in requesting the exception for the alternative plan. The Associated Press reported in September that many school districts–especially those that serve the largest populations in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio–described the dual challenges of hiring officers during a shortage and finding the funds to pay their salaries. Although House Bill 3 provided $15,000 per campus, that amount falls far short of a competitive wage for a full-time employee charged with keeping children safe.

But the ultimate question of safety rests on the shoulders of those that HB3 is designed to protect: the students.

“I think it will be helpful to make students feel more safe on campus since our current security doesn’t carry a weapon,” shared Sydney Skaggs, a senior at New Tech. “Right now we would have to call Belton PD. It is best if he never has to use it, but I’m glad he does [have it].”

Other students like Cadence Lohman, a sophomore, were more apathetic about his presence on campus.

“No. It feels the same,” responded Cadence when asked if the campus felt any safer in her opinion. “If anything were to happen, I think the response time would be similar between Belton PD and the officer since we are so close [to the station]. I’m not sure if one officer makes the difference. Maybe he will stop someone from trying, but I don’t know.”

Throughout the day, students would walk past and make matter-of-fact comments about the officer’s weapon or share what they knew of the change. But student reactions by and large were muted; a quiet acknowledgement of the new reality that has become all too normalized.

When asked about students who may feel uncomfortable about his presence on campus, Officer Rivera was considerate of their feelings but firm in his sense of duty.

“I may be here and may be armed, but there is a history of people that want to harm children in schools. I understand the anxiety, but it is a necessary deterrent. Everything I wear and do is to stop people from trying in the first place. And everything I do is for their protection. The only time I will ever touch my firearm is if I need it to keep them safe.”

To be sure, the true test to see if House Bill 3 is the answer to school shootings will unfortunately be a scenario where these armed officers will deter or defeat an armed assailant that wants to do harm to students; a test that every Texan hopes will never happen.

Regardless, Officer Juan Rivera continues his patrol down the halls of New Tech, around the sprawling buildings of the campus, and said that he is always ready at a moment's notice to perform his ultimate duty.

“I’m the one that runs towards the danger.”

Photo By Za'ron Lee