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AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — The Cherry Creek Schools superintendent sent a letter to parents outlining the district’s security measures on Thursday.

That was one day after the shooting at Denver East High School where two school administrators were shot.

Superintendent Christopher Smith wrote, “We have security teams and SROs who patrol and support all of our elementary and middle schools.”

 “We are installing emergency intercom systems with automated lockdown capabilities in every school,” Smith said in the letter.

Secure vestibules are also being installed in all elementary and middle schools according to the letter. The letter was to reassure parents of school safety in the wake of the shooting.

Denver Public Schools has now decided to reinstate SROs after removing them in 2020.

At Arapahoe High School in the Littleton School District, school resource officers are part of daily life. One of their biggest roles is to build trust with students.

“It could be something that could include searches every day. It could be something as simple as checking in with an administrator. We are there to monitor for safety purposes,” Dan Tipton, an SRO at Arapahoe High School, said.

School administrators perform the searches, not the officers. However, SROs help with threat assessments and safety plans.

“We are typically invited to that conversation as well to address the best practices to handle the safety and security of that student and the students in the building,” Tipton said.

Students appreciate SROs at Arapahoe High School

Littleton Public Schools said its SROs are valuable. Cherry Creek Schools also said its officers play a large role at various campuses.

At Arapahoe High, 18-year-old seniors Chloe Joe and Tyshauwn Weber said they like having the SROs around.

“I think there’s a bad stigma around police officers being in the schools and making everyone a little bit nervous, but the ones we have here are friends with all the kids and they help us feel safe,” Joe said.

“For our English project, they are helping us. They are giving us information about this thing called Narcan. It stops an overdose if you don’t know what it is,” Weber said.

But not everyone likes SROs, and Tipton said he knows that.

“I think the biggest misconception with the school resource officers concept is, people don’t have an understanding of what we do,” Tipton said.

That’s the reason he takes the opportunity to share with others what he does as he continues trying to keep kids safe at Arapahoe High.

Cherry Creek Schools letter to parents

Here’s the letter that was sent to parents in Cherry Creek Schools:

Dear Cherry Creek Schools Community,
Our hearts and thoughts go out to the East High School community and to the families of the two staff members who were shot yesterday. We stand in solidarity with Denver Public Schools and East High School.

Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff. As educators, we think every day about how we can keep our schools safe. The district continues to review our security plans as we do on a regular basis. We continue to work with our partners in law enforcement and school safety experts to ensure the district is prepared for any possible threat.  

Here is what you need to know about security in the Cherry Creek School District.

  1. We have District Security Coordinators and School Resource Officers (SROs) at all of our high schools, and we have security teams and SROs who patrol and support all of our elementary and middle schools.
  1. In case of an emergency, school building leaders and security personnel have radios that connect directly to district security and dispatch. We are installing emergency intercom systems with automated lockdown capabilities in every school.
  1. All front entry doors in elementary and middle schools are locked at all times. Anyone entering the building must buzz in at the main entrance and report to the office.
  1. At the high school level, all students are required to wear ID badges and visitors to the campus must check in with security.
  1. As part of the 2020 bond, we are installing secure vestibules in all elementary and middle schools. The district has completed installing thumb bolt latches on all classroom doors.
  1. We were the first school district in the country to implement the Redbag program, which puts emergency Redbags in every classroom that include life-saving first aid supplies and a QR code that lets dispatch check in with classrooms during a lockdown.

Your partnership is critical in keeping our schools safe. If you see or hear potentially dangerous behavior or anything that could put students at risk, please report it to law enforcement, the school, or through www.safe2tell.org.

Please continue to keep the East High School victims, families, students, and staff in your hearts and thoughts over the coming days.

Sincerely,

Christopher Smith,  Superintendent