The seven-member St. Vrain Valley School Board voted unanimously on Wednesday night to let law enforcement store long-range, high-accuracy rifles at Lyons Middle Senior High School and Niwot High School. The Boulder County Sheriff proposed the plan, saying it’s necessary to ensure law enforcement officers can keep the students safe in case of a school shooting.
The sheriff’s department chose the two schools in question because they are located in areas that are difficult to reach, where emergency response times are longer.
St. Vrain Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Don Hadad laid out the sheriff’s department’s concerns at a study session on October 19th. “they did not feel comfortable with the response time,” he said. “You're talking about seconds and minutes and they're talking about getting to Lyons and out to Niwot would be a significant delay.”
School resource officers already keep similar firearms in their patrol cars. But they say that might be too far out of reach if there’s an emergency inside the building. The intent is not to arm teachers or other school personnel but to have high-accuracy, long-range weapons at hand for law enforcement officers stationed at the school to use in case of an emergency.
The sheriff’s department approached the school board about the plan over the summer. Before Wednesday night’s vote, the proposal was discussed at length at two study sessions, where school board members brought up concerns such as liability, mental health interventions, law enforcement training and protocols for securing the firearms.
Dr. Hadad threw his support behind the proposal, explaining, “I just don't feel comfortable saying no to Boulder County sheriffs when they're telling me that if this is not in place, it puts us at a significant disadvantage in protecting our children and protecting our staff.”
Now that the proposal has been approved, the sheriff’s department will develop and implement detailed plans for keeping the firearms secure in both schools. The rifles will be stored in locked safes inside secured rooms and would only be accessible to law enforcement.
This was not the first time the Boulder County Sheriff has proposed storing guns on-site at the schools. The school board rejected those proposals in the past.
Dr. Hadad reflected on the shifting cultural mood around school safety in the context of continued violent incidents, like the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last May. “I've seen over the years things evolve,” he said at the October 19th meeting, “I remember way back in the early nineties when there were conversations around do schools bring officers into the building period.” Law enforcement officers are now commonplace in schools.
“And I think what's really unfortunate is that we even have to have this conversation,” Dr. Hadad continued. ”Our schools should be safe havens for our children and our teachers and our staff. Unfortunately, schools oftentimes are the recipients of some of the flaws we have in our society.”
