School resource officers provide protection while growing in faith

Jeremy Hart, a school resource officer at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Denton, high-fives kindergarteners. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

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After almost 12 years serving in the United States Marine Corps with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, followed by about eight years as a Lewisville police officer, most recently on the SWAT team, Tony Barletta retired from the force last fall and became director of campus safety and emergency management, which also includes the role of school resource officer, at St. Martin de Porres Catholic School in Prosper.

Honestly, he said he was a little bored at first and missed the adrenaline rush of his former roles. But his perspective changed on Veterans Day. He received heartfelt letters from all 400 of the school’s students thanking him for his service.

“I realized, ‘You’re here for a reason. You’re supposed to watch over them and protect them just in case something evil ever happens,’” Barletta said. “God’s got me here for a reason.”

Now he views it as the most enjoyable job he’s ever had. “The kids make my day,” he said. “It’s awesome hanging out with them.”

He also gets positive feedback from staff and parents who appreciate having another strong male role model on campus.

Some days he plays football with students at recess or can encourage a young student to quit throwing a tantrum.

‘Let me be the buffer’

Every day, Barletta and the other SROs in the diocese focus first and foremost on school safety. They walk the campus and check all doors throughout the day, keep an eye on security cameras, monitor visitors, and often assist at arrival and dismissal and watch over students at recess and in the cafeteria.

All of them are armed and trained to handle active shooter situations.

Barletta recalled two recent school shootings were at Christian schools.

Mark Hesselgrave, who is in charge of security at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Grapevine, prefers to call himself a school guardian rather than an SRO. He is a personal protection officer with the highest level of training commissioned by the Texas Department of Public Safety but doesn’t have a background in law enforcement.

In 2019, he helped start the guardian program at Good Shepherd Parish in Colleyville and ran it as a volunteer until 2023, when the church brought him on staff as the coordinator of safety and security.

Last year Mike Short, director of security for the Diocese of Fort Worth, announced the need for armed security in all the schools in the diocese. Hesselgrave said, “I jumped at the opportunity.”

He calls working in a Catholic school environment a blessing. As a product of public schools growing up, Hesselgrave appreciates the difference. “It has strengthened my faith,” he said.

They start and end each day with prayer, and he enjoys attending Mass with the school community — students, staff, and parents who are available to attend — on Wednesday mornings.

Hesselgrave said he is reminded daily of “my whole entire reason” for working in school security.

“I want staff and students to not worry about anything but Catholic school. Let me be the buffer,” he said. “I want this to be a safe space where they can do what they’re here for and just get a good education.”

‘Culture builders’

Short said he and other diocesan staff began to push for armed security in schools three years ago. At that time, they started with active off-duty police officers. A year later, the state of Texas passed a law requiring public schools to have security officers in place.

Since then, Short has focused on hiring retired police officers like Barletta and highly trained, vetted security officers like Hesselgrave who become school employees. 
“They are culture builders,” Short said. “They identify vulnerabilities and focus on teaching staff and students.”

Many of them also assist the associated parish in building guardian programs.

Some schools still hire uniformed off-duty police officers, so there is a mix across the diocese, Short said.

The diocese is currently raising funds for SROs for the continued safety of its students, he added.

Andrea Gahler, principal at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Denton, said the school’s SRO Jeremy Hart has quickly become an integral part of the campus community.

“Jeremy has served as a positive role model for our students,” Gahler said. “He has a really engaging personality.”

While the school had safety protocols and drills in place before he came last year, Hart took security to a higher level.

A former SWAT officer, he taught school staff ways to make the campus more secure. He also helped encourage more parents to become Safe Environment trained so they could volunteer. The school now has almost 100% of parents properly trained, Gahler said.

Hart also oversees the school’s safety patrol, a group of older students who assist young students at drop-off and pickup times.
“It just shows all the collaboration he has with our families,” she said. “He’s really added a strong, positive presence on campus.”

‘They help me want to be better’

Fort Worth Police Detective Maria Orand is one of the off-duty police officers providing school security. She works every Friday at Nolan Catholic High School where her son is a junior.

This is the second year she has been a member of the Nolan SRO team.

Orand has worked in the Fort Worth Police Department for 20 years. She started in patrol and became a detective in 2017. She’s now part of the human trafficking unit, an experience she uses to help coordinate the Safe Environment program in the diocese. 

Before she was an SRO at Nolan, she was “a band mom,” so many of the students knew her in that role.

“I wanted to work on Fridays because it worked better for band,” she said. “I brought clothes to change from cop mode to mom mode.”

Orand said she truly treasures her time working at the school.

“The kids are so good here. They’re typical teenagers, but they’re kind and they’re welcoming,” she said. “And the staff here is great.”

In the past, she served as an SRO in a public school for a short time. Now she appreciates going to Mass and Holy Days of Obligation and “seeing my son’s faith grow.”

He attended Holy Family Catholic School which helped him learn about the faith, but now he’s maturing as a faithful Catholic, along with his peers.

“I love seeing kids this age going to Mass, praying before and after school,” she said. “We keep Christ at the center of everything we do.”

She said she was surprised by the profound impact in her own life working with students every Friday.

“It makes me want to be better. It makes me want to be an example,” Orand said.

She often sees students when she’s at a restaurant or shopping at Target.

“You never know who’s watching,” she said. “They help me want to be better in my faith and what I do every day.