On the heels of last week’s school shooting in Evergreen, Douglas County School District officials met with parents Tuesday night to discuss safety in schools and, most notably, school resource officers.

The most popular topics of conversation included preventative measures to stop violent incidents. That included a demand for even more school resource officers in a school district with the most in Colorado.

The nearly three hour forum included 13 panelists from DCSD officials, local law enforcement and school safety experts.

Douglas County’s forum occurred six days after a student fired 20 rounds inside and outside Evergreen High School in Jefferson County. The shooting left two students critically injured and the gunman dead from self-inflicted gunshot.

For most of the panel, DCSD officials offered dozens of parents and community members a chance to ask questions or make suggestions. They expressed their worst fear: not seeing their child return home from school one day.

“We are grateful that you entrust your kids with us every single day and please know that we take that very seriously,” DCSD Superintendent Erin Kane told the parents and community members on Tuesday.

“We love your children. We are so grateful that you trust us with them and keeping them safe is a gigantic priority here in Douglas County, and not just of our school district, but of our entire community,” she said.

Following the Evergreen High School shooting, some Douglas County parents said the incident sparked tough conversations with their children.

During Tuesday’s panel, parents talked about how to react to fears of going to school, mental health and increased safety measures.

Call for more SROs

DCSD is comprised of more than 62,000 students across 92 schools. With over 55 SROs assigned across the district, DCSD has the highest the most of any Colorado school district.

Still, some parents complained that’s not enough. Some speakers suggested a full-time SRO for each school in the district, something both DCSD and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office officials said they want, but don’t have enough money for.

Officials said the DCSD board of education must approve a ballot initiative, as soon as next year, for that to happen.

“If you guys did enough, my kid would not come to me and ask me what she’s supposed to do if there’s a shooting,” one parent told the panel.

One parent even suggested assigning military veterans to possibly patrol school grounds.

The full-time SRO at Evergreen High School was on medical leave and not present during last week’s shooting, while a part-time SRO from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was responding to a nearby traffic crash.

Most of Douglas County’s 33 SROs are sheriff’s office deputies. The rest are either from Castle Rock, Parker or Lone Tree police departments.

“I don’t want a school resource officer who wants nights and weekends off. I want a school resource officer that’s going to interact with those kids, interact with those staff, and ensure that it is good fit for both,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said during the panel.

“I want to do better. We can do better,” Weekly said in support of more officers in schools.

In addition to SROs, DCSD also assigns 120 “campus security specialists” across the district to patrol grounds, according to school officials.

School officials also encourage students, staff and community members to anonymously report any suspicious activities on Safe2Tell.

All DCSD staff are trained for any circumstance under a “pathway to violence” protocol.

“There’s no magic pill. I wish I could give you one thing that will stop this from happening,” DCSD Director of Safety and Security Jonny Grusing, also a former FBI agent, told parents.

Grusing said the school district’s approach follows a “prevention, hardening and response” strategy. He pointed to picking up “warning signs” as a first step.

“We do have universal supports for all our kids in place,” DCSD Director of Mental Health Stephanie Crawford-Goetz said in a response to a question on mental health screenings for students.

“We have a partner on our team whose whole team is health, wellness and prevention,” she said. “So we’re looking at curriculum’s that really teach all those essential skills to our students.”