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Mekeland




Dear Neighbor,

The new school year in Minnesota is starting under a cloud of increasing concerns that new Democrat state law could compromise safety for students, teachers and staff alike.

This goes back to an omnibus education bill (HF 2497)?the Democrat trifecta enacted into law earlier this year. The package included 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."?

Legislative Republicans raised vital concerns over this change as far back as last February. Democrats ignored legitimate questions and plowed ahead with their radical agenda. Now, months later, this has?caused School Resource Officers to be removed from numerous Minnesota schools as our ability to provide a safe learning environment for students and staff is undermined by Democrats.

It?s hard to blame law enforcement offices for pulling SROs from schools since this new law prohibits them from using all the tools they?ve been trained to use when necessary to de-escalate a situation. This could place SROs themselves in dangerous situations ? physically and legally ? right along with the students, teachers and staff they are working to keep safe.

Situations can develop by the second, yet we could see scenarios where an SRO must resort to calling 911 and waiting for a uniformed police officer to come in off the street instead of themselves applying the appropriate de-escalation tactics they?ve been trained to use. A lot of trouble could happen in those precious minutes if a 220-pound high schooler has a bad day and things ramp up in a hurry.

Make no mistake, this change in law did not happen by accident. It?s all part of the Democrat trifecta?s pattern of demonizing law enforcement officers and undercutting law enforcement efforts in general. It?s bad enough to see what?s happening on the streets in our state. Now it?s leeching further into our schools, leaving our children less safe, yet Democrats refuse to take the action necessary to fix the problem they have created.

You can bet your bottom dollar that if ? God forbid ? something bad happens that could have been prevented by an SRO, the Democrats will try to blame Republicans. Not this time. Not only do we support law enforcement and SROs, Republicans just last session authored legislation 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 that quite reasonable measure in an omnibus education package last spring but removed it from the bill late in the 2023 session.

In the meantime, I remain in communication with area officials to receive their input on this matter. All of us should want students, teachers, and staff to be safe so the next generation of Minnesotans can reach their full academic potential. Recklessly passing laws that result in SROs being removed from schools does the opposite and causes our schools to be less safe.

The Democrat trifecta needs to admit how badly they botched this one so we can fix our state law before something bad happens. It?s 100 percent on them, starting with the governor, who continues to dodge the issue and has not yet indicated it is a priority at all for him.

Hope you have a good Labor Day weekend. Please stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Shane






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State Rep. Shane Mekeland
215 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
St. Paul, MN 55155
[email protected]
(651) 296-2451







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