The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to cut funding for school resource officers at Lake Highlands High School. The Dallas Police Department program currently provides SROs to local secondary schools not covered by Dallas ISD, which has its own police department.
LHHS SROs like Anna Kubeer have shared stories of successes with students, such as a decrease from 70 to 16 incidents at the school despite “great diversity, including people from just about every country in the world.”
“Students need to learn to engage with first responders,” Kubeer shared at a 2019 community town hall meeting, “not just when they get in trouble, but also when good things happen.”
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam McGough has lobbied hard for the program during his tenure, particularly during upticks in teen gang activity.
Also at Wednesday’s marathon meeting, the Forest Audelia Boxing Gym – a youth outreach program also led by and funded under DPD – survived the council’s “straw vote” and may be safe. The votes are unofficial but will be considered by city staff in constructing the budget. The next council budget vote will be taken Sept. 9.