School safety committee gets closer to final ideas

District 51's School Safety Committee is brainstorming ideas of how we can keep mesa county students safe.

The committee which has been meeting each week told us they expect changes soon.

The 25 member Safety Committee told us this could be the final week of collecting ideas and presentations from the community.

As they come closer to reaching a final proposal to present to the school board

After the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, communities across the country are taking a second look at their school security.

District 51’s Director of safety and security, Tim Leon said,  "Within about a weeks of that incident local law enforcement had a meeting, and as a result of that meeting we decided we'd form this committee."

So far the group has discussed possibly allowing teachers to carry concealed guns in school and having armed volunteers on patrol.

Leon said, "We've had several presentations, an overall view of what District 51's security procedures are and we've also talked about threat assessment and suicide assessment."

Carl Mitchell is both a committee member and a concerned parent. He says, it's not just the students he's worried about.

Mitchell said, "My daughter is a school teacher and I have a granddaughter that's in high school here. The way I operate is I think outside the box, I spend my time thinking about, can I help her? Can I be creative for her? Can I give her ideas?"

The board also mentioned changing the layout of schools and beefing up security, especially near school entrances.

The idea of security swipe cards was also brought up, as well as reviewing mental health services to help detect students who may be at risk of committing violent acts.

But no matter what they decide, committee members and school officials say they're all in this together.

"There's been a lot of concern expressed by the community in general... parents, community members, local groups. It's been really interesting to see everyone pulling together for the safety of the students," said Leon.