DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis signed two bipartisan bills, both focused on school safety, into law on Thursday afternoon.
The two bills address the need for school resource training and creation of the Office of School Safety.
At the same time, he signed an additional bill allowing DACA recipients who want to work in law enforcement to carry firearms.
Creation Of Office Of School Safety (SB 23-241)
This bill will create the Office of School Safety within the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and provide funding for school safety-related programs.
The Office of School Safety will be tasked with several responsibilities, including overseeing the School Safety Resource Center, implementing a new crisis response unit, running the School Access for Emergency Response Grant Program (which is currently administered by another division of DPS), and administering a new Youth Violence Prevention Grant program.
The new Office of School Safety will oversee both the School Safety Resource Center and crisis response unit.
Once created, the School Safety Resource Center will assist schools in preventing, responding to and recovering from emergencies. It is also responsible for providing information and resources related to school safety, according to the bill. This does not include any provision of firearms in schools. The director of this office must appoint a grants manager who will be responsible for obtaining any funds related to school safety.
The crisis response unit will assist schools that are responding to a crisis.
"We know that while of course our school districts, our local police departments or sheriff's departments take school safety very seriously, we know that the state needs to step up and help," Gov. Polis said at the signing. "And what this bill does is we're going to create a school safety-focused effort and office that will be responsive, help educate districts about best practices — really up the bar on student safety across the state of Colorado."
The bill increases state expenditures in the Department of Public Safety by $26.1 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. This decreases to $13.9 million the following fiscal year. This is paid from the general fund and other cash funds.
SB 23-241 was introduced on March 24. Its prime sponsors are Sen. Jeff Bridges (D), Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer (R), Rep. Shannon Bird (D) and Rep. Rod Bockenfeld (R).
Rep. Bird said after significant outreach to schools across the state, the sponsors learned that the creation of this office was something very much needed and appreciated by Colorado's school districts.
"No child should not be safe when they are in school," Rep. Bird said. "And we are deeply committed to that effort."
Sen. Bridges added that a few years ago, the state had an audit that found the state's response to school safety was disjointed.
"That is going to address specifically what it is that we saw on that audit that we were missing, which is that coordination, that collaboration, that communication that this bill is going to enable and allow. And hopefully, our kids are going to feel safer in their schools," he said.
Sen. Kirkmeyer said when she was elected to office, she focused on brainstorming ways to make a difference, improve the lives of every Coloradan, including students and teachers.
"And that's why this bill was so important for me to be on," she said. "This is a bill that we're actually doing something. We're actually looking at how can we improve the safety of every student in every classroom, how we can improve the learning environment and make sure that teachers feel safe in the schools that they teach in."
Mandatory School Resource Officer Training (SB 23-070)
This bill requires an annual meeting to discuss best practices when it comes to responding to Safe2Tell reports. Safe2Tell's reporting system allows students, staff and families to anonymously report a safety concern. As written in this bill, the Department of Law will hold a training meeting for school resource officers (SROs) and school officials to discuss Safe2Tell response practices.
While this will come with an increase in workload for school resource officers and school district officials, the bill says this can be accomplished within existing resources.
"We know the importance of well-trained school resource officers," Gov. Polis said. "And part of that training is to make sure they understand best practices around the Safe2Tell program. The better our school resource officers are prepared for success, the safer our students will be."
SB23-070 was introduced Jan. 27. Its prime sponsors are Sen. Chris Kolker (D), Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer (R), Rep. Mary Young (D) and Rep. Ryan Armagost (R).
Sen. Kolker said his wife is a school counselor who has a great relationship with her SRO and explained some benefits of getting the state's SROs together for training.
"I believe that when people who work every day in a certain area can get together and share their experiences, they can learn from each other, and they can improve on the methods that they're using," he said.
Rep. Young, a long-time special education teacher and school psychologist, said she saw first-hand how critical the relationships are between students and SROs, adding that the Safe2Tell program has been very successful in Colorado schools over the past decade.
"And this training will allow SROs to increase their capacity to respond to those very important issues since they are so critical in doing that," she said. "And it will provide them with a trauma-informed perspective and compassionate response that they already have, but increase their capacity."
Sen. Kirkmeyer started her comments by thanking Sen. Kolker, who brought the bill forward in the Senate when there was not yet a Republican sponsor.
"And I heard him speak about this bill at the well and talk about his experience and the importance of this and the relationship that he and his wife have had with school resource officers and the importance in their school," she said. "And it made me think back to my own experiences of being a county commissioner, where I funded school resource officers for 20 years in schools and understanding the importance of that. But it's also extremely important that our school resource officers get the training that they need — the training so that they know how to engage and work with the children that are in our schools, and have an understanding of what those kids are going through so that we don't make issues worse, but we make them better."
Gov. Polis signs additional public safety bill during Thursday's signing
In addition to two school safety bills, Gov. Polis also signed the bill Federal Authorize Firearms For DACA Peace Officers (HB 23-1143) into law on Thursday afternoon.
HB23-1143 permits law enforcement agencies to amend written firearm policies to allow eligible immigrants to possess a firearm and attend peace officer training academies, in compliance with federal laws.
The bill defines "eligible immigrants" as anybody who has valid Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Before this was signed into law, a DACA recipient who wanted to become a police officer was not legally able to possess firearms.
It also requires agencies to notify the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board when eligible immigrants are in compliance with written firearm policies while attending any of the training academies.
HB23-1143 was introduced Jan. 31. Its prime sponsors are Rep. Cathy Kipp (D), Rep. Ryan Armagost (R), Sen. Julie Gonzales (D) and Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer (R).
Gov. Polis said there are a number of ways Colorado is stepping up to address workforce shortages. This bill looks at those individuals who are fully qualified, POST-certified but can't carry a firearm because "the federal government is bogged down decades in sorting out paperwork."
Because they're unable to carry a firearm, their opportunities are limited within the field of law enforcement.
"At the same time, we know that we need more well-qualified trained law enforcement personnel to keep us safe," Gov. Polis said. "And I would add we especially need bilingual law enforcement personnel in many cities and counties across our state."
He added that DACA recipients are welcome in the armed forces and are a great source for law enforcement.
Rep. Kipp said the bill was brought to her by a constituent whose dream was to become a police officer but was unable to because he was a DACA recipient.
"And I am so thrilled to know that for my constituent and so many like him, that he's now going to have the opportunity to do that," she said.
Rep. Armagost expressed his gratitude to Rep. Kipp for asking him to be part of the bill.
"After communicating with her, I talked to my police chief in Greeley and he explained that he had an applicant about a year prior that was probably the best applicant that he had ever had," he said. "And he was unable to hire him because of the fact that he didn't have his citizenship. So to have this bill and the opportunity to push this bill forward into law is great."
For Sen. Kirkmeyer, this bill was personal. She said living in Weld County, where her kids went to schools in the Fort Lupton School District, about 60% of the students were Hispanic. Several of her daughter's friends were DACA, she said.
"And they didn't know about it until they went to get their driver's license. And then all of a sudden, they had a problem," she said. "So this bill, for me, means these individuals that grew up in America, that identify as Americans and want to serve their community — this bill will allow them to serve their community in a law enforcement capacity, a community that they grew up in, that they know. That's their dream."
Sen. Gonzales added that the issue behind this bill had hurt staffing at police departments and other local law enforcement.
“In my district and throughout the state, qualified individuals with bilingual skills and an understanding of their community and culture currently have no pathway to serve as law enforcement officials," she said in a written statement after the signing. "This bill will help open the door for immigrants to serve their communities in new ways, and I’m proud to see it signed into law.”
