Brush City Council accepts SRO termination
A week after the Brush School Board voted unanimously to terminate the student resource officer (SRO) intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the City of Brush, the Brush City Council unanimously voted to accept the termination at its Monday meeting after returning from an hourlong executive session.
“I would just like to say that we’re all very disappointed in the outcome of this and what’s occurred,” said Brush Mayor Dana Sherman before the City Council voted. “Our highest priority is obviously the safety of our kids.”
Councilmember Alison Gorrell, like the mayor, made a statement before voting.
“While I did make this motion to accept the termination of the IGA, I did so because I believe that the situation has become untenable and I do not believe things can continue as they are,” Gorrell said. “I have faith in our Council, staff, and police department as we move forward.”
Many were left wondering what the future looked like after the the City Council accepted the termination.
Brush City Administrator Monty Torres said Tuesday morning that the next step for the City Council is to craft a letter of response that will be authored by him and City Attorney Dan Krob. Torres said the letter could be released publicly around mid-March.
“They just want to express some points of clarification,” Torres said.
Torres said he was “surprised and a little disappointed” with the direction the School Board went with the agreement because, to him, conversation at subcommittee meetings was trending toward reaching an agreement.
“There was a subcommittee that was working on this together, jointly with the school district, and all indications that we had received it was going to go in a different direction,” he said. “We respect their decision; they have to make their decisions and the city has to make our decisions.”
The subcommittee was formed last August and was comprised of School Board members and City Council members to remedy the SRO contract. The last subcommittee meeting was at the end of January.
Last Tuesday, the School Board issued a press release detailing its reasoning to terminate the SRO agreement.
“The district has refrained from much public comment on the matter since May 2022 when charges were filed by the Brush Police Department against a school district administrator,” the press release read. “Those charges were accompanied by an unnecessarily inflammatory and condemn
ing press release issued by the Brush police chief.”
The press release continued with, “The district elected to await the results of the judicial process of adjudicating the matter. That process has now been completed and we no longer desire to sit by silently and allow incorrect narrative and the ‘spinning’ of information to continue unchecked points.”
One point mentioned later in the release reads, “A recent meeting of city officials and a subcommittee of the School Board resulted in more ‘spin’ from the city manager implying that the school district was responsible for the city’s inaction. The district has no confidence that the program can be successful while the Brush police chief reports to the current city manager.”
Torres, who said he didn’t read the press release, didn’t comment on that specific point, but he said the letter he will soon authorize will address the school board’s press release.
Brush Police Officers will still maintain a presence at the high school campus, Torres said, a decision confirmed by Interim Brush Police Chief Brandon Flecksteiner.
“As I said in the City Council meeting last night, I’m 100 percent committed to making sure that we’re still present in the schools,” Flecksteiner said.
Despite the SRO program being terminated, Flecksteiner added that he would like the BPD to work with the Brush School District on drills, activities and training in the future. Flecksteiner has a meeting set with Brush Superintendent Dr. Bill Wilson on Wednesday, where he hopes to get that collaboration going.
When Flecksteiner spoke to City Council Monday night, he announced Jarod Barham is returning to the BPD on Wednesday to full patrol status. Barham was away from the BPD since last September because of illness and previously was assigned as the SRO.
“We’re just really happy to have him back,” Flecksteiner said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re a little shorter staff, so any extra person we can get back on shift is very beneficial.”