Friends and neighbors —

Many of you have called and emailed me regarding the issue of law enforcement officials being removed from schools. These officers – also known as School Resource Officers – are being pulled from districts due to a change in use of force rules that Democrats approved in last year’s education bill.

The new law bans SROs from using certain restraint techniques on students, which law enforcement groups argue will prevent SROs from safely de-escalating dangerous situations. As a result, several Minnesota counties have withdrawn SROs from local schools, raising concerns about student safety.

Since my last column, there have been a couple of trouble updates:

First: A large brawl broke out during the first week of classes at Mankato East High School. Officials say 10 students were involved, and the school was placed into lockdown. The mother of one of the victims told KSTP, “they could have killed my son.” SROs were removed from Mankato schools about a week prior.

Second: About 40 Democrats signed a letter saying they oppose fixing the law, that concerns are being misrepresented, and that there is no need for a Special Session.

Third: Gov. Walz, who originally said that Republicans “may be right” about this, later changed his mind and said he wouldn’t call a Special Session.

It’s extremely disappointing. There is an extremely simple solution. In a one-day Special Session, we can repeal the new law and revert to previous use-of-force standards for SROs, which were working well, and keep the restrictions against holds that prevent students from breathing.

Law enforcement officers and school officials are still trying to persuade Democrats and Gov. Walz that this is an urgent issue.

I hope they will listen. Student safety has to come before partisan politics.

John