The Gilpin County School Board of Education spent most of its meeting on Tuesday, March 7, discussing the lessons learned following the February lockdown.

On February 22, the Gilpin County School District was one of several Colorado schools to go under lockdown after the sheriff department received a tip that someone was at the school with an AR-15 and a pipe bomb. All the threats were evidently unsubstantiated, and no injuries were reported. The FBI and local law enforcement are now investigating the calls.

The board’s discussion of the incident opened with a speech from staff member Catlin Davidson. She shared a letter she had written the day after the lockdown that described the tense horror she felt waiting for instruction in her classroom. She described feeling unprepared when alarms went off announcing the lockdown, describing being confused until her students told her what was happening.

She described checking her phone for texts from school officials, scouring the news for any further instruction, and feeling at an absolute loss as to what to do to protect her students. One of the most sobering moments of her letter was her description of her internal debate about what she would do if a gunman entered the room. Would she rush him in the hopes of taking the weapon from him? But if she got shot, who would protect her charges?

She told the board she hadn’t been aware police were doing sweeps and that there would be authorized guns in the building so when cops came to her classroom, she almost rushed them as if they were the attacker. She asked the school board to take action to make sure that no teachers would ever feel unprepared, by organizing consistent training that would be required for all new incoming teachers.

After she learned that teams of police officers had been sweeping the schools, Davidson expressed further trepidation wondering what would happen if an officer entered the room gun first, and the fear and potential danger that put her and her students in.

On behalf of the parents and staff of Gilpin County School she ordered the board to explain why communication had been so poor the day of the lockdown.

The board expressed sympathy with her and promised her that they intend to work on improving school communication for any future emergencies. Board members and police said that at least we found all these kinks now, rather than during a real threat.

Superintendent Dr. Dave MacKenzie said that in the future he hopes to use systems within the school as a sort of reverse 911 where the school’s preventive measures would serve to contact local authorities without relying on phone communication.

MacKenzie expressed sympathy for his staff in the aftermath of the lockdown. “Most of the people [working in schools] didn’t sign up for this, but this is the reality. It’s about survival.”

The board spent the remaining time in the meeting going over the school budget for the coming years. Financial officer Joseph Tinucci told the board he was concerned with the funds the school has on reserve. While the school has $2 million in reserve, that would only allow the school one year of operation without significant new income. If current revenue incomes were to change, as they likely will, with declining enrollment and the question of whether Black Hawk will be able to continue supplying funds remaining unanswered, the school would have to default on that limited reserve. Ideally, Tinucci told the board, the school would have 2-3 years worth of money in operating costs in reserve.

The Gilpin County School Board meets bi-monthy on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Board meetings are held in the Gilpin County School Board room at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.