GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Golden Valley Police may place a school resource officer back into two Robbinsdale Area Schools this fall, after two years without an SRO program.
The city council invited district leadership to a work session Tuesday night to discuss the plan. If approved this summer, the school resource officer would work at Sandburg Middle School and Robbinsdale Academy-Highview — two schools housed in the same building within the city limits of Golden Valley.
The district has received attention for several high-profile incidents involving school safety, including felony charges against two Sandburg students for bringing a gun to school last year.
According to a proposed contract, the school resource officer would "not act as a school disciplinarian or enforcer of school regulations or use police powers to address school discipline issues," but the officer could still respond "to potential offenses that require immediate intervention."
Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green said he's been working on the plan with Robbinsdale Area Schools for several months.
"If there is any concern about the role of this SRO, this is not a person who will be there to enforce anything other than what the school district is allowing us to do," Green said. "This is not a person who is going to be there for punitive reasons."
However, the city's police advisory group, known as the PEACE Commission, opposes the proposal.
"It is the position of the PEACE Commission that Golden Valley should not place an armed police officer in Sandburg Middle School as an SRO," the commission wrote in a letter to council, adding: "We strongly believe that introducing an armed SRO into Sandburg Middle School is a detrimental decision that could have far-reaching and numerous unintended negative consequences for students, teachers, and the overall learning environment."
In response to a question from a city council member about the need for an armed officer in the school, Green said the job of SRO requires them to carry one.
"Especially in this day and time," Green said, "with what we've seen in the school shootings around the country."
There's also the question of staffing. According to Green, the department has only 13 officers right now out of 31 budgeted positions.
Green told the council Tuesday night that they would not sacrifice patrol officers for the SRO. The department would also be open to hiring either an internal or external candidate for the position, according to Green.
"Potentially, at the beginning of the school year, will this person be in place? We don't know," Green said, "but we're going to do everything we can. At the same time, we still have to be mindful of the position our patrol division is in, and get that staffed."
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