Kennard ISD Police Department Officially Patrols The Campuses

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

KENNARD –  Kennard Independent School District (KISD) joined the ranks of many local schools by moving to create their own school police department, to work with other county agencies and provide a faster response time to any local problems. 

Kennard ISD recently named a new Interim Superintendent, Chad Smith, to replace Malinda Lindsey, who is retiring at the end of the month. Smith is already on the job, working with Lindsey to get up to speed before he will be on his own, beginning in January. Look for an upcoming story and profile as the county welcomes Smith to KISD. 

Crockett, Lovelady, Grapeland ISD’s were doing the same this year, giving each district more flexibility in how they control the campuses and the areas surrounding their districts. The Houston County Sheriff’s Office worked with each school to make sure their officials were in tune with county resources, radio frequencies and training. At a school safety conference last year at KISD, Houston County Sheriff Randy Hargrove acknowledged the size of the county and the number of deputies might make response times longer, and in the case of Kennard, maybe up to 15 minutes, depending on where deputies may happen to be – a long time in case of an emergency. 

The KISD school board voted to implement their own police department, which was recently approved and made official by TCOLE, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. 

The Messenger was able to speak with the new KISD Police Department Chief Michael Allen in his secure room at the school. He sports the usual tools of the law enforcement trade, including the newly approved department badge. 

Allen worked for five years at Central ISD schools before coming to KISD and worked all summer to get all of the paperwork and inspections done to secure Kennard the official approval to have its own police department. 

With Kennard schools located on a major roadway and far from other agencies, Allen acknowledged the need for a school police officer and even it’s own department is not a luxury, but part of what has to be done to keep the schools safe. Allen said he was glad to have TCOLE seal of approval, after five months working with the agencies to make the designation of the police department official. 

Allen’s family lives in the area, so the opportunity to create the department and save the commute time to Central was a big factor in his decision. He has already begun to take to the students, and they to him, as he settles in to his new role. 

“It’s been a learning curve trying to learn the kids. I love that we’re a small school,” Allen said, noting the kids were all very polite and happy to help. “The kids are different over here, compared to coming from a 3A school, but I think they get just as good education here as they would anywhere else.”

The official approval came only in early November, with Allen grateful for the help from the sheriff’s office, the school district and certain grants, allowing him to have a patrol car and the tools he needs to watch over the schools. 

Allen said there had been no major issues or problems since the start of school, this year. For now, KISD PD is a department of one, although he doesn’t rule out the need for an additional officer, sometime in the future. KISD recently completed installation of vinyl safety film on first-floor school windows, which makes it impossible for people to see in to classrooms, while the students and teachers can still see out. 

Allen was a little taken aback by the amount of paperwork needed to make the department official, but said he was getting used to his new role as chief. He has a large office where he stores what he needs for many different situations that usually, or, hopefully, never face a school campus. 

“My goal is just the safety and security of these campuses. That’s my main concern – I want everybody to feel safe here,” Allen said. 

Although the job may seem lonely, Allen said he has plenty of support, not just from the kids and administrators, but from parents – and most importantly, from other law enforcement agencies in the area. 

“If we have a problem here, we are going to get support from Houston County, from Angelina County – they have all been great. Our constable comes out here a lot and Texas DPS has been great, stopping in a lot to check on us. We have a lot of agencies backing us up,” Allen concluded.

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]