Jeffco Public Schools announced changes to its school resource officers (SRO) following the Evergreen High School shooting and scrutiny from the community.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the school district formalized their partnership through an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) announced in a news release Wednesday.

The sheriff’s office will assign 14 full-time SROs to 12 Jeffco middle and high schools in unincorporated parts of the county chosen by the district, including Evergreen High School, as staffing allows, according to the release, as opposed to the 14 being stretched across 23 schools as they are currently.

All 145 schools in the district also have Department of School Safety staff members, including campus security officers and dispatchers.

The 12 schools to have SROs from the sheriff’s office include:

• Chatfield Senior High School
• Columbine High School
• Conifer High School
• D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School
• Dakota Ridge High School
• Deer Creek Middle School
• Drake Middle School
• Evergreen High School
• Falcon Bluffs Middle School
• Ken Caryl Middle School
• Manning K-8
• Summit Ridge Middle School

There have been 14 SROs covering the 23 middle and high schools in unincorporated parts of the county, but now the 14 will be dedicated to the 12 listed schools.

The district did not state why these specific schools were chosen.

The sheriff’s office formally required the district to pay 50% of the SROs’ salaries last year, according to Jeffco Public School’s April FY 2025-26 budget development update.

In the new budget, the district is expected to pay more than $2.2 million to replace municipal funding for 50% of its 38 SROs and three sergeants on staff.

While the sheriff’s office makes up 14 of the SROs, the rest are from the municipal police departments in which the schools are located.

The district did not say if it is bolstering municipal SROs or changing their designations to specific schools. SROs are currently assigned to schools in the municipalities of Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Golden and Edgewater.

“Our commitment to safety and security in Jeffco schools is unwavering,” Superintendent Tracy Dorland said in the release. “We are proud of our strong partnership with law enforcement, including our shared commitment to a robust SRO program that supports our students and staff.”

The news release comes a week after 16-year-old Desmond Holly allegedly shot and injured two students at Evergreen High School before taking his own life.

That full-time SRO at the school was on medical leave. Meanwhile, a deputy who assumed those policing duties on a part-time basis was working on a traffic crash nearby, the police said.

The part-time SRO was allowed to come and go when needed elsewhere, police said.

“Horrible timing, of course,” Jacki Kelley, spokesperson with the sheriff’s office, said of the full-time deputy’s medical leave.

Kelley said, at the time, nearby schools have a shared SRO, and a full-time position may be established in nearby schools in the future.

Dr. Skyler Artes, the Evergreen High School principal, told parents that “mountain schools have been deprioritized, and resources are shared.” She said the school “was deprioritized because we are a small mountain town with less crime than the schools down the hill with SROs.”

Her remarks were part of the minutes published on the parent-teacher organization’s website.

“A mom sitting next to me said directly to Dr. Artes, ‘Why does Evergreen High School not have an SRO?’” Evergreen High School PTSA President Cindy Mazeika said, 9News reported. “Then another parent asked, ‘What if there’s a shooting?’”

The sheriff’s office and school district said the goal would be to have at least one full-time SRO in every middle and high school in unincorporated Jefferson County, but available law enforcement resources only allows for the 14.

Regarding adding metal detectors or other safety measures to schools, the district told The Denver Gazette, “Once the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office investigation concludes, Jeffco Public Schools will conduct a full, comprehensive review of our incident response and safety protocols.”

“We know that many communities across the nation are facing a shortage of law enforcement personnel and budget constraints, and we are not immune to these challenges,” Sheriff Reggie Marinelli said. “No doubt there is a need – we have been and continue to work together to strategically staff these critical positions. We will remain committed to hiring the very best deputies for our agency and our community. I remain steadfast in fighting for the funding our students deserve.”