North Texas school district approves hiring 8 ‘armed school safety officers’

BURLESON, Texas — The Burleson Independent School District announced Monday that its board had approved the hiring of eight armed school safety officers.

The eight hires included former police officers, former U.S. Army soldiers and a SWAT team leader. They join two other school safety officers (SSO) already hired by the district, who also have a background in law enforcement. 

The SSO program was approved at the Aug. 8 board meeting, and Curt Brannan was the district’s first hire in late August. Richard Morris was hired as the second SSO in September. 

“Burleson ISD’s School Safety Officer program is founded on our core belief that former commissioned peace officers are the most capable security personnel as they are highly trained, skilled, and experienced,” said BISD Superintendent Dr. Bret Jimerson. “These newly hired School Safety Officers offer the best solution for districts that wish to bolster its safety and security plan by adding personnel to elementary campuses.”

Here is a look at the BISD 10-person team of SSO’s: 

Curt Brannan: 30-year Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD) veteran and former homicide detective.Richard Morris: 36-year FWPD veteran and former gang intelligence and detective sergeant.John Danna: 5-year service for U.S. Army police; 26-year FWPD veteranJack Goleman: 28-year Burleson Police Department veteran.Gary Gray: 25-year FWPD veteran and former FWPD Narcotics Unit commander.Woody Holman: 28-year FWPD veteran (20 years as a patrol officer and eight years as a school resource officer).James Ingle: 28-year Amarillo Police Department veteran, 31 years total law enforcement experience; U.S. Army veteran.Dietrich Jones: 31-year FWPD veteran, 17 years as a SWAT officer for FWPD.Brett McDonnell: 32-year Arlington Police Department veteran, 25 years with SWAT and also served as the K9 unit sergeant, leading three K9 teams.Stacy Singleton: Former fire marshal and emergency manager for City of Burleson for 31 years; active member of the Tarrant County Arson Task Force.

“The years of experience, training, and knowledge these School Safety Officers bring to Burleson ISD will greatly benefit our Safety and Security team,” said Steve Logan, BISD Chief Operating Officer. “We believe this will be a model program other districts emulate.”

The district said that, combined, these 10 BISD SSOs have over 300 years of expertise with backgrounds in Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT), executive and dignitary protection, police intelligence, military police, high intensity drug trafficking enforcement, school resource officer programs, school and city Emergency Operations Plans (EOPS) and more.   

For more information about the team and district’s safety measures, visit their website here.

More Texas headlines: