Days before school shooting, Olathe voters OK’d spending millions for safety
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Olathe East High School shooting
A shooting at a Johnson County high school injured a school resource officer and an administrator, according to police. The suspect, a student, is in custody.
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Days before a shooting at Olathe East High School left three people injured on Friday, Johnson County voters approved a $298.3 million bond initiative to help improve safety across the district.
Three people were shot and injured: a school resource officer, an assistant school principal and the suspect, who is a student and was shot in the abdomen, according to radio traffic from the officer, captured by Broadcastify.com.
The incident came after voters passed a bond measure on Tuesday to to replace a middle school building and fund several facility, technology and safety improvements.
More than $8.2 million is expected to go toward safety, including installing cameras in several buildings and upgrading district radio systems.
Unofficial results from the special mail ballot election show the bond initiative passing with 67.7%, or 15,936 votes, in favor, according to the Johnson County election office, while 32.3% voted against it. In total, 22.6% of eligible voters, or 23,542, cast ballots.
Across the Kansas City area, districts have spent millions to beef up security in the wake of school shootings, using bond issues, state grants, tax dollars and other sources. Some have been reconstructing school entrances to limit access. Some have added metal detectors. They are installing security cameras — some equipped with facial recognition software. They have purchased new door locks and communication systems and hired more school resource officers.
Olathe East, located at 14545 W. 127th St., is one of five high schools in the district. The school has roughly 2,000 students in a district of about 30,000 students.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 11:53 AM.
