DENVER — An 11-year-old Denver charter school student is charged with two felonies related to bringing a weapon to school last week.
This happened last Tuesday, according to a letter from Denver District Attorney Beth McCann to Denver Public Schools administrators.
The student is charged with felony menacing with a real/simulated weapon and possession of a weapon on school grounds. The student is accused of bringing a knife to school, 9NEWS has learned through multiple sources.
This happened at Green Valley Ranch Middle School, which is a charter school in the DSST network, a spokesperson for DSST Public Schools confirmed to 9NEWS. The spokesperson said parents at the school have not been notified of the arrest.
The Denver Police Department, the District Attorney's Office, and DPS would not identify at which school this happened.
"Denver Public Schools is not disclosing the name of the school that the student attends to protect the juvenile's privacy. Because of the size of the school, we are concerned that identifying the school could potentially identify the student," Denver Public Schools spokesperson Scott Pribble told 9NEWS.
DPS is the authorizer of the DSST charter but does not have direct oversight of the charter school network.
When a student is charged, the Denver district attorney sends a letter to the district informing them of the case. Here is a copy of the letter about last week's incident:
From these letters, 9NEWS knows of 10 total students charged with possession of a weapon at school since the start of the the 2022/2023 school year. During the previous school year, the district told 9NEWS, 86 knives were recovered at schools, as well as 13 firearms.
DPS refuses to show the public what weapons have been recovered at school, refusing to share copies of photos taken of the weapons.
"Releasing photographs of the guns does not add anything meaningful to the public discourse about this matter and could undermined the current safety practices by letting a potential shooter (know) what types of weapons are less likely to be identified via our current safety practices,” wrote Stacy Wheeler, DPS' open records coordinator. “Further, doing so only serves to undermine confidence in Denver Public Schools and could create panic, confusion, and/or concern amongst our students, families and the community as a whole.”
9NEWS began asking more questions about school safety after the recent shooting at East High School and requested letters regarding students charged with crimes from the Denver District Attorney's Office.
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