Aurora school principal ousted amid investigation into attempted student kidnapping by registered sex offender

Saturday, May. 04, 2024

Cherry Creek School District officials ousted the principal at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora on Friday, two weeks after a registered sex offender walked onto campus and attempted to kidnap a student during recess.

District officials confirmed Friday they made “an administrative change” by replacing Principal Amanda Replogle with an acting principal for the last month of the school year.

Cherry Creek officials did not answer questions about whether Replogle was fired or reassigned to a different position in the district.

Aurora police responded to the elementary school, located at 25233 E. Glasgow Drive, the afternoon of April 19 after 33-year-old Solomon Galligan allegedly walked onto school grounds with a white blanket and lunged toward a group of students.

Galligan appeared to leave the school after realizing students were screaming “stranger danger” and running away, according to the arrest affidavit.

Police arrested Galligan later that evening, after a parent recognized him at a nearby Walgreens based on his description.

The district investigation into the April 19 incident is in its final stages, Cherry Creek officials said Friday.

“The information obtained through this investigation has led us to decide that we need to make an administrative change at Black Forest Hills,” school officials said in a letter sent out to families Friday. “We are making that change now so that we can move forward with the final weeks of the school year in a positive and productive way.”

The letter also emphasized safety and protocol changes.

District security reconfigured supervision protocols at recess to improve line of sight, and students will be kept closer to school and away from the edge of the property, officials said.

Additional security and police patrols will remain in the area through the end of the school year, officials said in the letter Friday. The school also reinstated the “Watchdog Dads/Moms” group to provide additional support.

The group is comprised of parental figures who serve on campus for the day under the school’s administration.

Cherry Creek officials expect to announce a new school principal in the coming weeks.

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