BRIGHTON, Colo. (KDVR) – A Brighton school district is planning to hire additional school resource officers who will be stationed in elementary schools.

The plan to increase the number of officers at the schools, which have some of the district’s youngest students, has been in the making for some time.

After a shooting outside a high school in Brighton on Wednesday, SROs were among the first on the scene.

Voters in this district recently approved spending millions of dollars on school resource officers. The superintendent said Wednesday’s shooting is one example of why they are needed.

Turns out, all of 27J’s high schools already have SROs on campus. They include officers from the Brighton Police Department.

“We value them and we are grateful for them. Their purpose there is to keep our kids safe,” 27J Schools District Superintendent Chris Fiedler said.

Five middle schools and two charter schools in 27J Schools have officers as well.  

Fiedler said the goal now is to place officers at more than a dozen 27J elementary schools.

“People know elementary schools are our most vulnerable school sites if there is not an SRO officer in those buildings. So that is something we are doing to provide a safe environment for our kids to give parents some peace of mind,” Fiedler said.

Lupita Vallejo’s children attend schools in Brighton and her nephew attends Brighton High School.

“I feel like there should be more officers there. I do feel more. I do feel at peace when I see an officer’s car outside of the school. For sure, it feels a little more comfortable to leave my kid there as I go about my day,” Vallejo said.

The superintendent acknowledged whether to have SROs should be decided by each community. He’s pushing to keep them in his district and widely expand their numbers in the years to come.

The district just hired a new director of safety and security who will hire three area coordinators. There are currently 11 school resource officers and Fiedler considers them invaluable partners.