The college useful resource officer assigned to Evergreen Excessive Faculty was not on the campus Wednesday when a pupil opened fireplace, leaving mother and father and college students to query whether or not the college was left extra weak to an assault.
Mark Techmeyer, director of public affairs for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Workplace, mentioned the college useful resource officer assigned to Evergreen Excessive Faculty Wednesday was referred to as away from the campus to reply to a close-by automotive crash that morning.
The common faculty useful resource officer has been out on medical go away for about 10 months, Techmeyer mentioned, and the college has had rotating substitute officers since then.
Techmeyer mentioned it’s regular for SROs to depart their posts for lunch and physician’s appointments, as with all job, or to be dispatched to close by incidents, because the SRO at Evergreen was on Wednesday.
Techmeyer mentioned deputies arrived on the faculty about two minutes after the primary 911 name in regards to the capturing and encountered the shooter about 5 minutes after the 911 name. He strongly doubts the SRO’s absence had an influence on the deputies’ response time to the college or on the shooter’s plans.
“I am confident (the shooter) did not coordinate his attack with the movement of the SRO,” Techmeyer mentioned. “A kid like that is focused on his plan, he is not taking into consideration the movements of the SRO.”
SROs are skilled to run towards gunfire on campus, a shift spurred by the legislation enforcement response to the Columbine faculty capturing 26 years in the past, Techmeyer mentioned.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s workplace is contracted to offer SROs at 12 of the 60 colleges within the unincorporated county space, Techmeyer mentioned, together with Evergreen Excessive Faculty. Jeffco public colleges which might be situated in municipalities, like Arvada, have SROs from native police departments, he mentioned.
There are not any statewide insurance policies governing faculty useful resource officers, mentioned Christine Harms, the director of the Colorado Workplace of Faculty Security. Sheriff’s workplaces have their very own agreements with faculty districts governing these insurance policies, Harms mentioned. The sheriff’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for its settlement.
Legislation Enforcement guard a vigil for the capturing at Evergreen Excessive Faculty, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at Buchanan Fields in Evergreen, Colorado. (Jeremy Sparig, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
The shortage of an SRO on campus when the shooter opened fireplace alarms mother and father and college students, a few of whom raised considerations about faculty security at Evergreen Excessive Faculty lengthy earlier than Wednesday.
The following day, a bullet was found within the faculty whereas college students and employees had been current.
“We were not properly informed on the severity of the issues in our building, and our teachers were denied transparency,” Madison wrote to Dorland. “I have a right to feel safe in school, which you have taken away from me.”
“Do we not deserve to go to school feeling safe?”
“No child should have to go to school wondering if they will live and get to go back home,” Madison wrote to them. “Today, I saw people huddled into a corner crying because they thought they would die. Today, I had to run out of my school because I was scared I would be shot. Today, I had to sit behind a door, not knowing if a cop or a shooter was banging on it. Today, I had to tell my family I loved them because I thought it could be my last chance.”
She added that Evergreen Excessive Faculty “rarely” has an SRO on its campus.
“Do we not deserve safety?” Madison wrote. “Do we not deserve to go to school feeling safe?”
Board member Erin Kenworthy responded late Wednesday evening, writing that she shares in Madison’s anger and cares “deeply” about college students and faculty employees.
“Every single school in the county has security plans and mechanisms in place,” Kenworthy wrote. “No matter how many layers of prevention and preparation we supply, still, the unthinkable happens.”
Legislation enforcement collect and examine a capturing at Evergreen Excessive Faculty, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Evergreen, Colorado. (Jeremy Sparig, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
Madison informed The Colorado Solar that her sense of security as a pupil at Evergreen Excessive Faculty has continued to shrink over the previous three years. She mentioned she remembers having an SRO in class usually throughout her freshman yr, however that modified her sophomore yr and now she solely ever sees an SRO for scheduled drills.
She mentioned that college students not have a purpose to really feel protected in class.
Faculty security has additionally remained a prime concern amongst some mother and father and guardians of Evergreen Excessive Faculty college students. Throughout a gathering of the Mother and father, Academics/Employees and College students Affiliation on the faculty Tuesday, the day earlier than the capturing, one father or mother requested, “What happens if we have a shooter?”
The district should unfold restricted sources amongst many faculties. Mountain colleges, like Evergreen Excessive Faculty, have been deprioritized as a result of they’re in areas with much less crime, Principal Skyler Artes informed mother and father on the assembly, in line with assembly minutes.
Cindy Mazeika, PTA president at Evergreen Excessive Faculty, mentioned she desires “equal treatment” with security sources throughout colleges and not less than one designated SRO assigned to each faculty within the district.
“This is a terrible situation, and I feel like the outcome could’ve been different if we had an SRO,” Mazeika mentioned. “I don’t know if it would, but that’s the purpose of having an SRO on site assigned while school is in session.”
An SRO may not be capable to stop an emergency like a capturing, Mazeika mentioned, however “they are there to react. They are there to protect and have a much faster response.”
Sort of Story: Information
Based mostly on details, both noticed and verified instantly by the reporter, or reported and verified from educated sources.
