Hill takes safety job at CCISD

An armed safety officer will soon be working at Clarendon CISD as the school complies with a new state requirement.

State Trooper Kelly Hill will be retiring from his current position and taking on the new role through cooperation with the Donley County Sheriff’s office.

Superintendent Jarod Bellar said the new position is an unfunded mandate from the Legislature.
“House Bill 3 requires that we have a licenses peace officer on each campus effective September 1,” Bellar said.

Clarendon CISD technically has three campuses – high school, junior high, and elementary – but Hill will be the safety officer over the entire school under a Good Faith Exception resolution approved by the school board.

The state is providing $15,000 per campus for the first year, plus $10 per student, which amounts to a total of about $49,000 in state funds for the first year. There’s no guarantee that money will be available in the future, and the total is not enough to cover the expense of employing and equipping Hill’s position, Bellar said.

“We’ll have to use some of our own money,” he said.

In addition, the school will work with Hill to identify potential school employees who would be willing and able to be trained to carry a weapon for those times when Hill is absent or not available.

“Kelly will bring a lot of experience and knowledge to the job,” Bellar said. “He will be a real asset to the district. It gives me a feeling that a weight has been lifted knowing we have someone who will run towards a threat.”

Hill will technically be a deputy of the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, which will carry his commission as a peace officer, but all the expense of his position will be the responsibility of the school district.

Before going to work for the DPS, Hill served as a deputy under Sheriff Butch Blackburn.
“I would only do this with certain candidates – someone I was familiar with,” Blackburn said. “Kelly will have our kids best interests and safety at heart,”

Blackburn said Hedley school officials are planning to arm additional teachers to comply with the new state requirements.