Saint Paul, MN —The Minnesota House of Representatives on Monday approved a bill to improve school safety after a change in law last year resulted in school resource officers (SROs) to be removed from many schools throughout the state. State Representative Spencer Igo, R-Wabana Township, issued the following statement reacting to Monday’s vote:
“Monday’s vote was an important step in prioritizing the safety of students, teachers, and staff,” said Igo. “I have been working to raise awareness of this issue since last summer and bringing stakeholders together to provide a fix to this problem. While it is disappointing that it took this long, I am nevertheless pleased to see a bipartisan solution for students, families, and our schools.”
The issue traces back to an omnibus education bill (HF 2497) Democrats enacted in 2023 that 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."
Language in the new measure provides updates which exclude SROs as employees or agents of a school district, exclude SROs from the prohibitions on prone restraints and physical holds; revise the “reasonable force standard” and mandate school districts and charter schools use only trained SROs and establishes new training and model policy requirements for law enforcement.
The House approved the bill 124-8 and it now awaits action in the Senate.
###