After Shooting, Col. School District’s Students Must Wear ID Badges

Doherty High School students without their ID badges may face detention or suspension.
Published: October 10, 2017

Colorado Springs District 11 will require students to wear ID badges on certain campuses following an incident where a student was shot near a high school recently.

The policy has been in place for a while, but District 11 officials now say they will begin punishing students for violating the ID policy.

Some high schools in the district allow students to leave and return during lunch periods. District officials say the policy is a way to quickly identify people in each school building and determine if they belong there. Teachers are also required to wear badges.

The changes went into effect Monday at Doherty High School, where the student who was shot attends classes. Students at Palmer High School, which is located downtown, are also required to carry ID badges with them at all times.

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“[The ID badge requirement] has always been something that was in place for students,” Colorado Springs District 11 spokesperson Debra Ashby told The Gazette. “Doherty is just taking a more aggressive stance in making sure it’s enforced.”

Students without their badges will first receive a warning before being disciplined with a detention or suspension.

The shooting occurred around noon on Friday, Sept. 22, when three students were in the parking lot of a business near Doherty’s campus during their lunch break. The students got into a confrontation with a group of juveniles in a car. One person exited the vehicle and fired several shots, striking one student twice. The student is expected to recover.

Arrest warrants have been issued for two unidentified male juveniles and a third juvenile has been listed by police as a person of interest, although no arrests have been made.

School officials at Doherty, the district’s largest school district with around 2,000 students, prohibited students from leaving campus during lunch hours for a week after the shooting, although Ashby said the small size of the school’s cafeteria made it difficult to keep every student on campus and Doherty had to arrange for staggered lunch periods.

Doherty High School Principal Kevin Gardner said he has met with nearby businesses owners to discuss ways to secure the areas surrounding campus during school hours.

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