At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, Manitou Springs High School staff and students were introduced to a new security officer, Marquette Battle. Battle, who is from Jackson, Mississippi, is also a 21-year combat veteran. He enjoys fishing, basketball, coaching and mentoring.
Battle decided to become a school security officer to continue supporting people. “I went from supporting my country to supporting my community,” he said.
The director of security, Janie Anderson, feels Battle is committed and dedicated to his work. “Officer Battle has been a pleasure. He’s committed and dedicated to student safety and security,” Anderson said. “He’s personable, and he’s just an amazing officer based on his prior experience.”
Officer Gary Johnson, the school resource officer for MSSD14, thinks that he and Battle have a good balance when it comes to working together. “Both of us have prior military experience, so it’s easy for us to bond,” Johnson said.
Anderson believes that Battle is always present within the school building. “He assists me with the crosswalk duty in the mornings,” Anderson said. “He’s always visible. You’ll see him wandering around the school. He probably gets eight miles a day just from walking.”
Johnson has hopes to conduct a training exercise between the Manitou Springs Police Department and other MSSD14 security staff. “We’re working on coordinating a training event during the first fall break,” Johnson said, “to try and get the school security and the officers for the city of Manitou Springs on the same page.”
Anderson thinks that having a dedicated set of eyes and ears at the high school is helpful. “I run the whole district, so I’m at various schools at different times,” Anderson said. “So he’s assigned to the high school and the SILC to help out. He works as my eyes and ears while I am away.”
Johnson believes that having Battle always moving helps keep the school safe and the staff and students feeling more comfortable. “He’s always wandering the campus,” Johnson said. “He’s checking doors, making sure we don’t have propped open doors, and he checks the parking lot quite regularly as well.”
Johnson also highlighted that he helps in other ways around the school. “He also helps quite a bit with the Significant Support Needs students,” Johnson said.
Judy Warner, the SSN teacher at both Manitou Springs High School and Middle School, thinks that Battle likes having Battle interact with the SSN students. “Officer Battle helps our SSN program by being a presence in our classroom and in the halls,” Warner said. “He is very friendly to our students, especially when they’re having a bad day. He is always kind.”
Warner believes that Battle can help the kids by interacting with them. “He opens up, and speaks to them and asks questions,” Warner said. “He gets to know the kids and builds relationships.”
