State Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, said last week that he shares growing concerns over how changes in state law made earlier this year could compromise safety in Minnesota schools.

An omnibus education bill (HF 2497) enacted into law after the 2023 session concluded imposes new 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.”

Anderson said he believes the change will “undermine our ability to provide a safe learning environment for all students and staff throughout our state.”

“This situation is particularly important here in Pope County, as both Minnewaska Area High School and the W.I.N. Academy in Starbuck have utilized Student Resource Officers in the past,” Anderson said. “I have talked with local staff, including at W.I.N. Academy, and they are very concerned about the ambiguity with this change in law. We need to resolve this issue as soon as possible for the safety of students and staff and to also tighten up any legal vulnerabilities that may have been created in state statute.”

The League of Minnesota Cities and the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association are among groups to recently raise concerns publicly regarding this issue. Student Resource Officers have been removed from numerous Minnesota schools in recent weeks.

Anderson indicated House Republicans authored legislation during the 2023 legislative session stipulating a student who is violent could be removed from a classroom and then returned after a consultation by the school administrator with the teacher, parents, and appropriate school support personnel regarding ways to improve the student’s behavior. The Democrat majority initially included the measure in an omnibus education package last spring but removed it from the bill late in the 2023 session.