ELECTION

FROM PAGE 1

Ora J DeMarrow, Al Duff, Tony Fabian, Juli Faller, Andrea Gee, Shohini Ghosh, Michael Guilfoyle, Nickie Holder, Frank Johns, Sara Jo Light, Bobbie Jean Lloyd, John Mackowiak, Terry Nolan, Scott Poulson and Greg Woodward.

Kari Larese, communications manager for Centennial Water and Sanitation District, said the district is really pleased to see the number of candidates participating in the election.

“To have 18 director candidates is exciting and I think demonstrates how important water is for

(the school district’s) first priority anytime that there’s an incident is to ensure the safety of our students and staff,” she said. “We always want to communicate with our parents and our staff and our community as quickly as possible. We’re not always in a position to do that, though, because the information isn’t available to us or it’s changing so rapidly.”

She said the district learned from the experience and has made changes for the future.

“We wish that we could have communicated in a much more timely manner,” she said. “Every incident we have, we learn, and we certainly learned from that one. And so it is our goal and our mission to do better.”

Leiker said the district implemented an enhanced communication strategy on March 1 when more swatting incidents happened in Boulder, Brighton and Aspen. Although Littleton schools were not targeted, the district sent out texts and emails and posted on their website to keep families informed.

“I appreciated them acknowledging the situation quickly,” Yongue said about the March 1 communications. “It was very soon after news reports of the other calls being made again that we received the message from (the district).”

Other parents said they were pleased by how the district handled communications during the lockdown and did not see a need for change.

“It’s difficult because as a parent, I really would like to know what’s going on right away, right?” Siddall said. “But I have learned with all the issues we have been having at all different schools that it takes a lot of time to put the communication out… You have to trust our principal, you have to trust our resource officer and the police — even when, yes, of course, we want to know what’s going on.”

Impact on students

When asked if he was afraid when the lockdown began, Osso said he was more confused than anything.

“For the most part, I was just confused about like, what’s happening?” he said. “I’ve lived my

SEE LOCKDOWN, P3 our future,” Larese said in an email.

“We need to ensure we are good stewards of this precious resource and it’s going to take a dedicated board of directors to do so. “

Voters who would like to vote by mail can request absentee ballots by going to centennialwater. org/vote and highlandsranch.org/ government/board-of-directors/ elections. Absentee ballots must be requested by April 26. The water and metro district elections are two separate elections, so people wanting to vote by mail must submit an absentee ballot request form for each election.

Voters can also vote in person from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 2 at the Hendrick Office Building, 62 Plaza Drive, Highlands Ranch.