Continuing the theme of “repairing” last year’s legislation, the Minnesota Senate today passed a bill to provide clarity on the expectations for School Resource Officers (SROs) and how they operate in schools. This bill comes in response to nearly a year of uncertainty facing law enforcement and SROs after changes proposed by the Governor raised concerns with the school and law enforcement communities.

Last year, the 2023 Education Omnibus Education Bill included language that made SROs “agents” of the school, which created new standards that conflicted with their training and would require an SRO to call in a “patrol officer” to manage many situations. As a result, many SROs were removed from schools and made students less safe. Today’s bill makes changes to give SROs the clarity and support to keep students safe and do their jobs successfully.

“Parents deserve to know their kids are safe when they are at school, and SROs are an incredibly important aspect of that – they offer an invaluable resource to our schools,” said Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater). “This bill may not offer the perfect fix, but it gets SROs back in schools, and that’s the most important part. As a parent, it was always important that I knew my kids and their teachers were safe in their schools. I’m so glad we could come together on a bipartisan bill that furthers that cause.”