(KNSI) – A fix to the school resource officer law has passed the Minnesota House of Representatives.
It clarifies when SROs are allowed to use force, including restraining holds, while stationed inside educational facilities. Both districts and law enforcement agencies had begun petitioning for the changes last fall. Teachers and other staff are still prohibited from doing so.
The bill sailed through by a lopsided 124-8 margin. The state Senate will now debate it. St. Cloud-area Representative Dan Wolgamott says students and communities are better off when SROs are able to do their jobs.
“SROs enhance public safety in our schools by building positive and trusting relationships with students and staff, and we owe them our full support and gratitude.”
The bill will direct the Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, Board to create minimum conduct standards that must be adhered to by both local districts and the departments they contract with.
Majority Leader Jamie Long called it “an important compromise that helps achieve the goal that we all have…of keeping our kids safe in their schools.”
The bill last session that led to several departments pulling employees from schools saw a varied response locally. Many districts saw no interruption in their relationship with law enforcement. Some departments thought an opinion from Attorney General Keith Ellison last fall was enough to put aside their concerns and return SROs to the halls of area schools. Other departments still have not renewed their rounds after giving notice to sever a joint powers agreement with their local district in summer 2023.
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