The Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office and Gilpin County RE-1 School District held a Swatting Incident follow-up meeting on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. in the Gilpin School Auditorium.

The meeting was presided over by Gilpin County Sheriff Kevin Armstrong with Gilpin County RE-1 School District Superintendent David MacKenzie representing the school district. Other representatives from police, fire, and emergency services were in attendance as well.

On February 27, 2023, there was an incident review after the Gilpin School had received a threat of gun violence at the school on February 22, 2023. Armstrong gave a detailed explanation of that incident and the subsequent problems including communications and reuniting students with their parents. Armstrong formed a task force to investigate the incident and make recommendations regarding procedural changes. The task force concluded that law enforcement and school staff had reacted properly to the threat and taken appropriate actions to protect the students. The reunification of students with parents suffered from delays and confusion.

At the September 20 meeting, Armstrong unveiled an improvement plan to deal with the reunification of parents and students. The plan is based on the methods of a non-profit foundation (iloveuguys.org). This plan is considered the national standard for programs for school crisis response and post-crisis reunification.

The new reunification procedure will be a processing sequence much like airport security screening. When students are evacuated from the school, they will be transported to the Community Center which is designated as the Reunification Site. The barn and Allen Memorial Arena will be set up as a Family Information Center. Parents arriving to pick up their kids don’t go to the school. They will first go to the Information Center where they will receive a Reunification Card to fill out. The card is then handed to a Checker who verifies the information. Every parent will also need to provide a photo ID for verification. The parent keeps the bottom half of the card, and the Checker hands the top half to a Runner who goes to the Reunification Area.

At the Reunification Area, the Runner hands the card to a Reunifier who finds the student(s) and returns them to their parents. The Reunifier adds the time at the bottom of the card and initials it. The final step is to hand the completed card to an Accountant who will keep track of the students who have been released to their parents’ custody. If the Reunifier can’t find the student, then the Runner hands the card to a Victim Advocate/ Crisis Counselor who finds the parents and works with them separately to locate the student.

Both Armstrong and MacKenzie stressed the importance of patience during the reunification process after an evacuation is required from the school to the Community Center. Cooperative patience at the Family Information Center (barn) will speed up the process and reduce the stress in the arena.

County Emergency Manager Whittington said the County Hyper-Reach notification program is the best way to stay informed about crisis situations in the county. Emergency Services will send phone, text, and email notifications to keep residents informed as a situation develops. Residents can sign up at the County website. The Gilpin Sheriff’s Department also maintains a Facebook page to provide accurate social media information in a timely manner.

Armstrong ended the meeting with a question-and-answer period at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on the Standard Reunification Method go to iloveuguys.org. To sign up for the Gilpin Hyper-Reach program, use the search term Gilpin Hyper-Reach.