A group of Legislative Republicans has proposed a bipartisan bill to fix a recent change in law that is causing the removal of Student Resource Officers (SRO) from public schools. The proposed solution includes a request for the Governor to consider a special session to make necessary changes to the law.

“Students, teachers, and staff deserve to feel safe at school, and that is why our school resource officers are so important,” said Senator Jeff Howe (R-Rockville). “Parents send their kids to school every day, expecting them to come home safely, in part because of the great work of our SROs. Yet Governor Walz and Democrats passed a law that limits their ability to the very job that keeps kids and schools safe. The school year has begun and we have to resolve this issue sooner rather than later. We need to keep SROs in our schools so everyone can have a safe and successful school year.”

Republicans proposed a bill that simply repeals the recent law change eliminating prone restraints or physical holds and repeals the change to use of force standards to revert back the original language that was in statute. The change does not impact the 2021 bill that banned all neck and chokehold restraints and remains in place for students and all Minnesotans.  

More than two dozen police departments across the state have announced they are removing SROs, including St. Cloud. In response to the issue, Republicans held a press conference which included Blaine Police Chief Brian Podany and Centennial Schools Superintendent Jeff Holmberg who shared their concerns about how this change is impacting safety for students and staff as the school year begins.