Dear Friends,

I hope everyone has had a great start to the new school year. I wanted to send along an update in regard to the Student Resource Officer (SRO) issue that I covered?last week.

As more law enforcement agencies across Minnesota announce the removal of SROs from schools, there has been mounting pressure for Governor Walz to call the legislature back for a special session. Over the holiday weekend, the Star Tribune Editorial Board ran two editorials agreeing with Republicans that the best way to keep our students and teachers safe is to clarify the language regarding SROs and do this immediately in a special session. You can read those?editorials?here?and?here.

Indeed, the Governor said in an interview that we ?may be right? in needing to fix this problem now, rather than waiting until February when the new legislative session begins.?Despite concerns from parents, educators, and law enforcement, it was disappointing to learn that some of my colleagues?do not think?a special session is necessary.?I agree with Governor Walz on this issue. Let's not risk disaster, let's come together and fix this now before tragedy strikes.

The last thing any parent wants is for our students to be left defenseless in the event of an unthinkable tragedy. We need a special session to clarify the SRO language so law enforcement has the tools they need to respond in an emergency.