While every threat is taken seriously, he said guidelines on how to better determine which threats are legitimate would be useful. He said school staff, including principals, counselors and school resource officers, work together to evaluate threats, even though they aren't part of a formal team. The commission didn't recommend security cameras, metal detectors and other hardware as effective in deterring violence. Instead, the emphasis was on making sure threats are reported and taken seriously. Sleeper said chipping away at the code of silence among students is a priority for schools.
Kids now are better about recognizing that when there's a threat, they're a target of that threat.
At the recommendation of Boulder Valley's security task force, the district also is planning to add six high school campus security monitors next year and provide outside security cameras at high schools only if requested. Boulder High School senior Chip Rountree said the more adults in the school forming connections with students, the less likely a school is to see a repeat of the Columbine High attack. By having a connection with an adult at school, it kind of grounds you. But we're always curious to see if there are other measures we haven't yet considered. It's nice to know we have this stuff covered.