Brush schools terminate SRO contract

District has 'no confidence' in program with police chief who 'reports to the current city manager'

An agreement between the Brush School District and the City of Brush for school resource officer services has been terminated by the Brush School Board for a failure to comply with the agreement by the Brush Police Department,

a press release issued to The Fort Morgan Times reads.

The program was established in April 2021 and began in January 2022.

“The School Board has a responsibility to provide the highest level of school safety to our students and staff while at the same time being fiscally responsible to the community we represent,” School Board President Brad Mortensen said. “The SRO agreement we had with the City of Brush was detrimental from both aspects, thus the board determined it was time to cut our losses associated with the agreement and move forward in a different direction.”

Members of the School Board and the Brush School District refrained from public comment, related to charges filed in May 2022 against one school administrator and then shortly another.

“Those charges were accompanied by an unnecessarily inflammatory and condemning press release issued by the Brush police chief,” a statement from the School Board reads.

“The Brush School District chose to respect the judicial process and refrain from comment until these proceedings had reached a conclusion,” Superintendent Dr. Bill Wilson said, which they did in January and finally with the reinstatement of both administrators.

The press release continues: “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.”

The School Board’s statement includes a point-by-point statement of conditions related to the SRO decision, which Wilson indicated are undisputed facts of record.

The Brush School District, members of the School Board and school administration cooperated fully with Brush police before, during and after the investigation, the first bulleted point reads.

“Brush School District administrators, as we have asserted from the beginning and has been firmly established by the court: worked in good faith; worked in the best interests of our students; and attempted to involve law enforcement in the process,” the press release reads in the second bulleted point.

Mayor Dana Sherman had offered public comment at the Aug. 15, 2022, School Board meeting that the SRO had been in the schools 75 percent of the time, the third bulleted point reads.

“Although school district records indicate a slightly lower percentage, according to the agreement, the school resource officer was supposed to be in our buildings on all students attendance days,” the press release reads. “The Brush Police Department, and subsequently the City of Brush, violated the terms of our intergovernmental agreement by scheduling the SRO to be out of our building without replacement for three weeks from March 29-April 19, during which time no SRO was provided.”

School district officials had communicated “clearly” on multiple occasions in May 2022, August 2022 and January 2023 that it believed “it both inappropriate and unwise for the originally assigned SRO to continue in the role at least until the court proceedings with which he was involved had concluded,” the School Board’s statement reads in a fourth bulleted item.

“The inaction of the Brush Police Department contributed greatly to the circumstances that evolved, yet the chief of police would not consider assigning a different SRO without a full investigation,” the press release reads.

The Brush School district has received support from Brush police since May 2022 to current in the form of building walkthroughs, traffic support, occasional onsite requests, and collaboration on student safety matters, the press release reads in a fifth bulleted point.

“While we appreciate the cooperation of Brush police and are thankful for their service, those services are routinely provided by law enforcement to school districts across the country at no cost,” the School Board’s press release reads.

Brush school officials have continued to work toward a more tenable and equitable agreement with the City of Brush, the sixth bulleted item reads.

“Suggested edits to the agreement were sent via school district legal counsel to the City of Brush in late October 2022. Not until after city officials watched the Jan. 16, 2023, regular meeting of the School Board were the suggested edits even shared with the City Council. To date, no response from the city has been received,” the School Board’s statement reads.

A recent meeting of city officials and a subcommittee of the School Board “resulted in more ‘spin’ from the city manager (City Administrator Monty Torres), implying that the School District was responsible for the city’s inaction,” the seventh bulleted point reads. “The district has no confidence that the program can be successful while the Brush police chief reports to the current city manager.”

The Brush School District was without an SRO or SRO program for many years, the eight bulleted point reads. “The current program placed an officer in our building from January 2022-March 2022. Essentially, the agreement was in place for three ineffective months,” the School Board’s statement reads.

Finally, the statement concludes: “After months of attempting to resolve issues and bring about a suitable resolution, the school district, School Board and administration believe that our best option for a positive path forward is to terminate the agreement. While we are terminating that agreement, we are in no way reducing our commitment to the continued safety of our students and staff. We will continue to seek and enhance safety measures, complete safety drills and attend safety training. A board-administration planning session inclusive of our Comprehensive Safety Plan is slated for the near future. We continue to welcome the Brush Police Department into our buildings and in partnership as we had prior to the SRO program.”