MANKATO — Mankato Area Public Schools will not have school resource officers on its campuses for the first week of school as the district, law enforcement and legislators work to clarify a change in state law.
The education omnibus bill passed during the 2023 legislative session revised laws covering the use of force and bans the use of prone restraints and certain physical holds by a school resource officer.
Mankato Public Safety has been working with the school district on the question of who is liable if something happens.
Mankato Director of Public Safety Amy Vokal said there are two main concerns with the legislation.
“We need some clarity about force, reasonable force, about prohibitions, when they would apply. But the second part is that no force can be used when there’s a situation such as if a student was damaging something. The school resource officer can use no force. Now, of course that’s the way they always try and do it, right? They’re always de-escalating,” Vokal said.
“If a person came up to school and they were trespassing, there’s nothing a school resource officer could do. They would have to call in an officer from the street.”
While the school district’s two SROs won’t be on the East and West High School campuses from Sept. 5 to Sept. 8, Director of Student Support Services Scott Hare said they’ll still be working.
The district said in a letter to district families the SROs will be available on an on call basis to assist school staff. They’ll also be available to respond to emergency incidents at each school.
“One of the things that’s fortunate for us is we still have the availability to use the SROs for 99% of what we would use them for,” said Hare.
The future of the decision to keep SROs off campus in part depends on how quickly the law can be clarified. Vokal said there could be continued conversation on the topic.
The Mankato district is among several impacted districts statewide, and some lawmakers are calling for a special session to clarify the law.
DFLer Rep. Jeff Brand, of St. Peter, is involved in discussions on the topic and said he is willing to hold a special session.
He added that talks of a special session have been ongoing since this past Friday.
“I’ll tell you that between the Senate, the House and the governor’s office, the folks I’ve talked to have said there’s an awful lot of middle ground here. I’m working under that premise that there’s a lot of middle ground. I’m working to find a solution that will be workable for all of our stakeholders and partners across our state,” he said.
“I think it’s one of those things where action that’s thoughtful but also responsive to the situation at hand is something that I’m advocating for.”
In St. Peter, the school district said its school resource officer is still on campus.
“We are aware that there is further clarification expected from the State regarding how the new law prohibiting prone restraints applies specifically to school resource officers. In the meantime, we will continue to partner with the Saint Peter Police Department,” Supt. Bill Gronseth said in a statement emailed to The Free Press.