Olympia School District Superintendent Patrick Murphy and school board President Darcy Huffman announced Monday evening that school resource officers (SROs) will be returning to campuses, after two students were arrested in the first days of school for bringing guns to Capital High School.
Olympia Police found a BB gun in the style of a handgun in a toilet on Monday, which led to a 17-year-old male getting arrested. Another student, a 15-year-old male, was arrested on the first day of school, Sept. 6, for bringing a loaded handgun to the campus.
Murphy said Monday night that the actions of the two students will have direct school and legal ramifications. State law allows the school district to expel a student for a year for possessing a firearm on school property, and the students were emergency expelled.
"While no one was physically harmed, these transgressions have significantly impacted the mental well being of the entire Capital High School community and the greater school district as a whole," Murphy said.
Huffman said she wanted to express her appreciation and gratitude to the administration and staff at Capital, as well as to the Olympia Police Department for their quick response. She said at the next board meeting on Sept. 14, she will be suspending the board's practice of allowing the public a 10-day comment period for a new policy so she can ask the board to pass policies related to School Safety and Security Services, as well as school-based threat assessments.
"By completing the approval process, it will allow Superintendent Murphy to work with city officials and to expedite the recent resumption of the school resource officer program in our schools," Huffman said.
Murphy said OPD is working to finalize plans to have police presence on campus for the next few weeks before the SRO program is back up and running. He said the police department has some staffing challenges, but leadership is certain they can spare the resources. Officers will have access to training as soon as they're instated, he said.
Murphy said Capital will have extra social and emotional support staff in the days ahead, and there's a list of community resources for families on the school's website.
Murphy apologized to students, staff and family for having to endure the incidents, especially during the first week of school.
"While these events have understandably evoked significant concern, I want to make a point of recognizing that this is not representative of the greater Capital High School community," Murphy said. "Capital High School is a wonderful learning community of students, staff and families."
