JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — One week after a shooting at Evergreen High School, Jeffco Public Schools and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) released a joint statement addressing school safety and resource officer staffing challenges across the district.
Parents and community members have pushed for answers about school resource officer (SRO) staffing within the district after it was revealed that Evergreen High School only had a part-time SRO at the time of the shooting.
According to JCSO, the school had a full-time SRO, but they were on medical leave at the time of the shooting. To fill in the gap, Evergreen High had been utilizing part-time SROs.
Concerns about the lack of a full-time SRO on campus were raised twice prior to the shooting during PTA meetings on Sept. 9 and the morning of Sept. 10, hours before a 16-year-old boy opened fire at the school, injuring two of his classmates. The shooter sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died of his injuries that same day.
On Monday, the sheriff's office announced Evergreen High School will have a full-time SRO “going forward.”
Evergreen
Evergreen High School will have full-time school resource officer after shooting
In a joint statement Wednesday, Jeffco Public Schools clarified that it does not employ school resource officers. Instead, local law enforcement partners, such as JCSO, provide officers through intergovernmental agreements (IGAs). The district, meanwhile, pays for half of this cost.
JCSO said 14 school resource officers cover 12 middle and high schools in the district, as staffing allows. The 12 schools that have an SRO are:
- Chatfield Senior High School
- Columbine High School
- Conifer High School
- D'Evelyn Jr/Sr High School
- Dakota Ridge High School
- Deer Creek Middle School
- Drake Middle School
- Evergreen High School
- Falcon Bluffs Middle School
- Ken Caryl Middle School
- Manning K-8
- Summit Ridge Middle School
In their statement, the sheriff's office and school district said their shared goal is to have at least one full-time SRO in every middle and high school in unincorporated Jefferson County.
"However, the reality of available law enforcement resources allows us to partner together to provide 14 SROs who cover schools in unincorporated Jefferson County," the statement reads.
Jeffco Public Schools said it employs 145 Department of School Safety staff members, including campus security officers, patrol officers, and dispatchers, who work in tandem with SROs to keep kids safe.
- Read the full statement below
"Jeffco Public Schools (Jeffco) and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) reaffirm our resolute commitment to safe, secure learning environments for every student and staff member. Protecting the safety and well-being of our students is—and will always be—our highest priority. We understand that our community has questions about Jeffco’s School Resource Officer (SRO) program and specifically how it operates in the Evergreen community.
“Our commitment to safety and security in Jeffco schools is unwavering,” Superintendent Tracy Dorland said. “Jeffco Public Schools does not employ SROs,” Dorland explained. “Instead, through intergovernmental agreements [go.boarddocs.com], our local law enforcement partners, like JCSO, provide SROs to serve in our schools and our district now pays for half of this cost. We are proud of our strong partnership with law enforcement, including our shared commitment to a robust SRO program that supports our students and staff.”
We (the JCSO and Jeffco) formalize our partnership through an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that assigns 14 JCSO School Resource Officers (SROs) to 12 Jeffco middle and high schools, including Evergreen High School, as staffing allows. SROs play a vital role that goes far beyond traditional law enforcement. They are trusted professionals who build positive relationships with students and staff, serve as mentors, and provide a critical resource for identifying and addressing safety concerns.
Ideally, our shared goal would be to have at least one full-time SRO in every middle and high school in unincorporated Jefferson County. However, the reality of available law enforcement resources allows us to partner together to provide 14 SROs who cover schools in unincorporated Jefferson County. Complementing our SROs, Jeffco employs more than 145 Department of School Safety staff members—including campus security officers, patrol officers, and dispatchers—who work around the clock to help keep our schools safe and welcoming.
“We know that many communities across the nation are facing a shortage of law enforcement personnel and budget constraints, and we are not immune to these challenges,” said JCSO Sheriff Reggie Marinelli. “Our shared goal has always been to have at least one full-time SRO in every middle and high school, which requires substantial financial support and a sufficient number of qualified deputies. No doubt there is a need - we have been and continue to work together to strategically staff these critical positions. We will remain committed to hiring the very best deputies for our agency and our community. I remain steadfast in fighting for the funding our students deserve.”
As outlined in our IGA, JCSO shall assign SROs to service the following schools as staffing allows:
- Chatfield Senior High School
- Columbine High School
- Conifer High School
- D’Evelyn Jr/Sr High School
- Dakota Ridge High School
- Deer Creek Middle School
- Drake Middle School
- Evergreen High School
- Falcon Bluffs Middle School
- Ken Caryl Middle School
- Manning K-8
- Summit Ridge Middle School
In addition to the work of SROs, Jeffco Public Schools and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office will continue joint efforts to provide ongoing training for school staff and SROs and to foster open communication with our community. By working together, we will strengthen our schools and ensure they remain places where students can learn, thrive, and most importantly, feel safe."
Budget constraints limit expansion
Following the statement's release, Denver7 visited with the sheriff's office to learn more about the staffing issues.
When asked what it would take to assign an SRO to every elementary school in unincorporated Jefferson County, sheriff's office spokesperson Karlyn Tilley said the numbers would be overwhelming.
"Hundreds. It would take hundreds," Tilley replied. "To have one in every single elementary school would take almost a complete police department or sheriff's office; there isn't any way to do that. But what they base it on is risk, so the middle and high schools are more at risk of things happening than the elementary schools are."
Currently, SROs only cover middle and high schools in the district. Tilley said in addition to the sheer number of personnel it would require, budget limitations prevent every school from having a designated SRO.
"We've been asking for more SROs for many, many years," she told Denver7. "Every budget cycle, we've asked for more SROs, and we hope that we are going to get more. That is our hope."
Tilley stressed that having an SRO at every school isn't a guarantee for safety, but it does allow law enforcement to create relationships with students and hopefully prevent violence from happening.
Denver7's Sydney Isenberg contributed to this report.
