Dec. 16, 2025
Dear D38 Staff, Families, and Community,
District leadership has maintained continuous communication with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPSO) regarding a potential risk to schools in the Monument area on Tuesday, Dec. 16. As of yesterday, the situation remained under active investigation. The district shared the information available at that time, as provided by the Sheriff’s Office.
While D38 is not privy to all the details of the investigation, we can now confirm that a community member made a statement regarding a threat to Monument area schools on Dec. 16, however, no specific school was named. Because the risk was tied to a specific date, we made the decision, based on information from our law enforcement partners, to close all D38 schools out of an abundance of caution.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office, in coordination with the Colorado Springs and Monument Police Departments, have investigated this incident thoroughly, and have advised there is no credible threat or elevated risk beyond Tuesday, Dec. 16. The Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate any new leads into the incident.
As a result, D38 operated schools will be open on Wednesday, Dec. 17 as scheduled. You may notice more of a police presence in our community the rest of this week to offer reassurance, but not because there is a continued threat.
Nothing is more important than the safety of our students and staff. While no single measure can eliminate all risk, we are confident in numerous robust safety protocols that the district has in place every day to help ensure a safe environment across our district. Some safety protocols include:
Secure points of entry on all our campuses
Presence of armed school resource officers
Secure visitor check-in systems and ID requirements
Ongoing, extensive collaboration with local law enforcement
Anonymous reporting tools such as Safe2Tell
Security cameras and locked doors on all campuses
We remain fully committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students and staff members. We will continually monitor our safety practices, and maintain close relationships with local law enforcement, in alignment with our first strategic priority of Safe & Healthy Schools. Thank you for your trust and understanding, and we look forward to welcoming back our staff and students on Wednesday.
Sincerely,
Amy Matisek
Director of Communications,
Lewis-Palmer School District 38