Just after East Significant taking pictures, Denver superintendent commits to return law enforcement to detailed higher educational institutions

Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero said he will have an armed officer at every of the district’s in depth superior colleges — a action that he acknowledges probable violates college board plan.

In a letter Marrero despatched to college board associates Wednesday, many hours right after a university student allegedly shot two deans at East Large School, he wrote that he is “committing to acquiring an armed officer at just about every comprehensive substantial faculty.” 

Previously that day, at a press meeting outside East with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Denver Law enforcement Main Ron Thomas, Marrero claimed East would have two armed police officers stationed there for the remainder of the school calendar year, but he did not commit to obtaining police at other colleges. 

The Denver faculty board voted in 2020 to take away law enforcement officers recognized as college useful resource officers, or SROs, from educational institutions. 

That directive was enshrined in a plan that mandates the superintendent “not team district educational facilities with school resource officers or the steady presence of security armed with guns or any other law enforcement staff.”

“However, I can no for a longer time stand on the sidelines,” Marrero wrote in a letter received by Chalkbeat and verified as accurate by a district spokesperson. “I am ready to settle for the outcomes of my actions.”

University board President Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán could not immediately be reached for remark. Previously on Wednesday, she said in an interview that the board supported stationing two law enforcement officers at East for the relaxation of the school yr.

The faculty board is responsible for selecting and firing the superintendent. Marrero was hired to lead Denver Community Educational institutions in June 2021, right after the college board voted to oust SROs.

In the letter, Marrero noted that Wednesday was the fourth time he’d frequented Denver Health and fitness hospital’s intensive care device “due to victims of gun violence.”

“These functions ought to not have transpired on my check out or on this board’s observe,” he wrote.

He wrote that he was performing “because I am the leader of this district who is charged with holding our students and staff safe and sound every single and just about every day.” He pledged to have “ongoing discussions” with principals at just about every large school “to comprehend their continuing need to have and want for this resource.”

Marrero asked for that he and the board have a discussion Thursday in a closed-door executive session with choose workers.

“It is significant we discover popular floor and guarantee our pupils and employees are risk-free and find alignment of our existing values,” Marrero wrote. 

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Community Faculties. Make contact with Melanie at [email protected].