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July 31, 2014 VOLU M E 1 2 | I SS UE 1 7 | F R E E
CastleRockNewsPress.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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District rejects federal lunches County high schools won’t adopt what nutrition chief calls ‘strict standards’ By Jane Reuter
jreuter @coloradocommunitymedia.com
Police officers take part in a simulated school shooting exercise July 27 at Castle View High School in Castle Rock. Photos by Mike DiFerdinando
Training tackles school shooting Officers, firefighters face different scenarios at Castle View High By Mike DiFerdinando
mdiferdinado @coloradocommunitymedia.com
P O W E R E D
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Police officers step over the bodies of injured students and fellow officers as they sweep through the halls of Castle View High School looking for a shooter. Screams and the sound of gunfire can be heard in the distance. It’s a frightening scene. Luckily, it is only a training exercise. The reality-based training is a joint program between the Castle Rock Police Department and Castle Rock Fire and Rescue that simulates an active killer inside of the high school. “We try to make it as real as possible,” Castle Rock Police Cmdr. Jason Lyons said. “When these officers are in a real situation we want them to be able to feel like they know what to do because they’ve done it before.” More than 40 members of the two departments took part in the July 27 training. Officers were sent down the street as training instructors called in different school-shooter scenarios. Officers arrived at the school not knowing where or how many threats there were or how many people had been injured. They then had to interact with role-playing teachers, students and other officers to find and eliminate the target and ensure the safety of those in the school. Those in character were encouraged to play up their hysteria in order to create the most realistic scenario for the training. In one scenario, officers had to decide whether or not to help a fellow officer who had been shot or to leave him bleeding in a hall in order to find the shooter and potentially save more lives in the process. “In any active shooter scenario our No. 1 objective is to eliminate any potential threats,” Lyons said. “From there, it’s a triage of responsibilities to care for casualties, to make sure we are protecting the integrity of the crime scene and that there’s a more thorough sweep. We operate under the premise that if there’s one bad guy (we know about), there are (likely) two. So the area is not really secured until it’s secured methodically.” Real guns outfitted with blanks — that left a detergent mark, similar to a paintball-gun shot — were used during the training where officers fired rounds at each other from behind lockers and desks of the high school. Training continues on Page 24
The Douglas County School District is opting its high schools out of the 2014-15 National School Lunch Program, citing concerns about the stringent level of the program’s newest nutritional requirements. By not accepting the federal funds provided through the program, DCSD does not have to adhere to the standards. The recommendation to leave the program for a year was based on student needs, said Brent Craig, director of DCSD’s Nutrition Services. “I support the USDA and what they’re doing; it’s the right thing to do to help teach kids to eat better,” Craig said. “We’re still committed to healthy food for the high school kids. But we can’t live by those strict standards of sodium and calories.” The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 funds free and reduced-price lunch programs and sets nutrition standards, a key part of first lady Michelle Obama’s fight against child obesity. The latest round of regulations, which went into effect July 1, set nutritional standards that limit the sodium, fat and caloric content of items sold in school vending machines, a la carte lunch lines, in student stores and fundraisers. Those restrictions would put the nine Subway franchises located in DCSD’s high schools out of business. The decision comes at an estimated cost of about $200,000, funds provided by the National School Lunch Program for students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals, but Craig said Nutrition Services will pick up that expense. School Lunch continues on Page 12
ABOVE: A police officer runs toward a simulated school shooting during a training exercise July 27 at Castle View High School. BELOW: A police officer plays the role of the shooter during the reality-based training at Castle View.
NUTRITION STANDARDS LIMITS ON calories, sodium, fat and sugar as estab-
lished in the National School Lunch Program:
CALORIE LIMITS ENTRÉES: 350 calories or less SNACKS/SIDES: 200 calories or less SODIUM LIMITS ENTRÉES: 480 mg or less SNACKS/SIDES: 230 mg or less *FAT LIMITS TOTAL FAT: 35 percent of total calories or less SATURATED FAT: 10 percent of total calories or less TRANS FAT: 0 grams *SUGAR LIMITS TOTAL SUGAR: 35 percent of weight or less from total
sugars
*WITH LIMITED exemptions SOURCE: USDA