Denver School Board Votes to Place Armed Officers in Schools After March 22 Shooting

A student hugs a man after a school shooting at East High School in Denver, Colo., on March 22, 2023,. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo)

Denver’s Public School Board of Education voted unanimously on March 23 to allow armed police officers back into the city’s high schools for the remainder of the 2022–2023 school year.

The vote took place at an emergency meeting just one day after Austin Lyle, a 17-year-old student at East High School, opened fire on two administrators just before 10 a.m. as they searched him for weapons, wounding them both.

Lyle’s body was found by police in the woods near an abandoned car on the afternoon of March 22. One of the wounded administrators was released from the hospital that day and the second remains in serious condition, The Associated Press reported.

School board members during the closed session on March 23 approved a memo to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero that suspends, through June, the board’s policy barring school resource officers in Denver schools, CBS Colorado reports.

The board’s memo also directs Marrero to work with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and other elected officials to “externally fund” the cost of putting two armed police officers and up to two mental health workers such as social workers, psychologists, and psychotherapists at every district high school for the remainder of the academic year, according to the report.

Armed Officers Must Be ‘Appropriately Trained’

According to a statement from Auon’tai M. Anderson, vice president of the Denver School Board, the board requested that the Denver Police Department “ensure every armed police officer is appropriately trained in the use of firearms, de-escalation techniques, policing in a school environment, knowledgeable of the school community they intend to serve, and skilled in community policing.”

Additionally, the board directed Marrero to establish a long-term safety and security plan and host regular community meetings to gather feedback from students, parents, staff, school leaders, and others in the community, according to CBS Colorado.

Marrero must submit the plan to the board by no later than June 30, they said.

Thursday’s vote reversed a June 2020 decision to remove armed officers from Denver schools in the wake of the death of George Floyd. At the time, the board had said the reason was, in part, because of the belief that the “close proximity of law enforcement to students on campuses directly contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Wounded School Administrators Identified

In a statement following the vote, school board members said they support Marrero working more closely with police and called on the community to help those affected by the recent shooting.

“The Board of Education supports the decision of Superintendent Marrero to work in partnership with local law enforcement to create safer learning spaces across Denver Public Schools for the remainder of this school year,” the board said, according to Chalkbeat Colorado. “In addition, we will continue to work collaboratively with our community partners including law enforcement and our local and state legislature to make our community safer.”

The two wounded administrators were identified as Dean of Culture Eric Sinclair, who was listed in serious condition as of Thursday, and East High’s restorative justice director Jerald Mason, who has since been discharged from the hospital and is in good condition, The Denver Post reported.

The two administrators were shot while searching Lyle for weapons, a daily requirement as part of a “safety plan” because of the boy’s behavioral issues, authorities said. Lyle was already on probation for a previous weapons charge, according to The Denver Post.

The coroner’s office has not yet released Lyle’s cause of death amid an ongoing autopsy.

In a statement following the board’s vote on Thursday, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said that he agrees with Superintendent Marrero that “the safety of students and the public require the deployment of police officers assigned to the high school for the remainder of the school year.”

“I encouraged and strongly support the Superintendent’s decision to bring police officers back to DPS high schools, and I’ve directed Chief Thomas to support this effort and deploy our officers accordingly in coordination with the school district,” Hancock said.