ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Legislature has approved a bill to improve school safety after a change in law last year resulted in the removal of school resource officers (SROs) from many schools throughout the state. State Representative Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont) voted in favor of the plan.
“The majority party struggled for months to move this legislation forward,” Olson said. “Once they allowed us to help create the solution and help bring it to the House floor, it was approved with overwhelming bipartisan support.”
Last year, the majority party imposed prohibitions on the use of force in schools, banning certain physical holds by “an employee or agent of a district, including a school resource officer, security personnel, or police officer contracted with a district."
In the newly-approved measure, Olson said SROs are excluded as employees or agents of a school district and are excluded from the prohibitions on prone restraints and physical holds. The “reasonable force standard” has also been revised, and school districts and charter schools may use only trained SROs.
“It’s unfortunate it took so long before we were allowed to help, but all along the goal has been to bring SROs back to the schools,” Olson said. “This will go a long way towards improving school safety for students and teachers.”