On Wednesday, Aug. 30, legislative Republicans proposed a bipartisan bill to fix a recent change in law that is causing the removal of Student Resource Officers (SROs) from public schools. At the press conference, Blaine Police Chief Brian Podany and Centennial Schools Superintendent Jeff Holmberg shared their concerns about how this change is impacting safety for students and staff as the school year begins.  

“School resource officers are essential to keeping our schools safe,” Senator Mathews (R-Princeton) said.“Unfortunately, the new SRO law change is causing significant uncertainty for law enforcement agencies across Minnesota, including officers in our district. To ensure that our SROs can continue to do their job effectively, we need an immediate fix to this poorly written and rushed-through Democrat policy. I will continue to work to find a solution that offers clarity for our SROs and ensures our students and staff feel safe in their schools.”

The bill as proposed simply repeals the recent law change eliminating prone restraints or physical holds and repeals the change to use of force standards to revert back to 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.

During the press conference, Republicans also presented a letter from House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson (R- East Grand Forks) asking the Governor to meet to discuss a special session.