SVVSD board mulling sheriff's proposal to store rifles at Niwot High

If there is an “active harmer” at Niwot High School, Boulder County Sheriff’s Department wants to have long guns (rifles) stored on the school grounds for a quicker response.

“Most of the time when you talk about an active harmer incident of magnitude it’s over quickly,” said Boulder County Sgt. Bill Crist, himself a Niwot High graduate, during a study session with SVVSD board members on Aug. 17. “Situations like Columbine, Sandy Hook, the Texas incident, these things are over within a matter of minutes.”

The guns would be locked up in a firearm safe on the school premises so that a school resource officer on the grounds could get to a rifle quickly in the event of an incident.

The proposal by the sheriff’s department is focused on Niwot and Lyons high schools because those schools are located further from law enforcement agencies than other high schools in the district.

“The response time is a problem with just one or two school resource officers there at any one time,” Crist said. “We’ve got two schools that are a little bit isolated. That brings some angst to the sheriff’s department.”

Crist explained that long guns are more effective and accurate at a distance than sidearms like handguns. “You have much more of an ability to handle something in a school setting such as a long hallway, across the field, things like that, if you had an active harmer doing something,” he said. “That’s where the rifle does come into play.”

The proposal would be a pilot program for Niwot and Lyons but Crist said he would like to see long guns stored at other schools in the future. “We’re asking for a tool we may or may not have to use. We pray it isn’t necessary,” he said.

Crist said several other school districts in the metro area are already storing rifles at schools, or are in the process of considering the idea. He said it is being done in other states as well.

Several board members expressed support for the proposal. “There is no job or issue that’s as important as the safety of our students,” St. Vrain Valley Schools Superintendent Don Haddad said.

“Discussions on this proposal will continue, however, there is no timeline set for any potential next steps,” said SVVSD Chief Communications Officer Kerri McDermid.

Superintendent of Schools Don Haddad, a former principal at Niwot High, said that the district was conducting a series of community meetings where district officials can engage with parents and community members. As of Oct. 5, three of those meetings had been held, and two more have been scheduled.

Haddad said that the long gun storage request was not a specific topic of the meetings, and that so far, there had been no feedback on the matter. He indicated that district administrators would report back to the school board at the conclusion of the community meetings, and then seek direction from the board.

“It’s safe storage,” Haddad said with regard to the request by the Boulder County Sheriff’s office to store long guns in Niwot and Lyons high schools. He attributed the lack of community input as indicative that the request was not viewed as unusual or unreasonable by district patrons. After he reports to the board, Haddad said the board could decide to put it on a regular meeting agenda, or simply give direction to district administrators with regard to the request.

This is the second time the sheriff’s department has proposed the idea. In 2018 the district gathered input from teachers, students, parents and the community before turning down the proposal in favor of improving other safety measures.

At the time, several community members had questions or expressed concerns, but the response from the community this time has been minimal.