SF 229

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 03/26/2021 09:35am

A bill for an act
relating to education; directing the Minnesota School Safety Center to develop a
school threat assessment policy; modifying the allowable uses of the safe schools
levy; establishing requirements for school resource officers; requiring a report;
appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 126C.44;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 121A.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [121A.07] THREAT ASSESSMENT POLICY.
new text end

new text begin A school board or charter school must adopt a threat assessment policy based on the
model policy developed by the Minnesota School Safety Center.
new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [121A.275] SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Role within school setting. new text end

new text begin A school resource officer (SRO) supports
and facilitates the educational process in a school district or charter school by providing a
safe and secure environment, establishing meaningful relationships with students and staff,
and proactively interacting with the school community to ensure the enforcement of state
and local laws. An SRO is responsible for preserving public order, protecting life, and
preventing, detecting, or investigating crime. An SRO must work effectively with students,
parents, school personnel, and community agencies to support teaching and learning in
schools. An SRO must patrol district property to protect students, staff, and visitors from
physical harm and prevent loss to district property resulting from criminal activity. An SRO
must not arrest students for disciplinary issues that would be handled by a teacher or
administrator if there was not an SRO working in the school.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Memorandum of understanding. new text end

new text begin A school district or charter school that
contracts for peace officer services in the district's schools must maintain a memorandum
of understanding with the law enforcement agency regarding the role of the SRO. The
memorandum of understanding must establish an agreement between both parties about the
role of the SRO, including:
new text end

new text begin (1) the relationship of the SRO and the school site administrators;
new text end

new text begin (2) a method to report complaints about the SRO to the law enforcement agency and a
meaningful process for complaint resolution;
new text end

new text begin (3) documentation and reporting requirements requested by the school;
new text end

new text begin (4) information sharing, such as body camera footage, in accordance with chapter 13;
new text end

new text begin (5) financial responsibility for SRO training;
new text end

new text begin (6) day-to-day duties of the SRO;
new text end

new text begin (7) expectations of attendance at extracurricular activities and compensation for
attendance; and
new text end

new text begin (8) additional SRO training requirements.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin SRO training. new text end

new text begin (a) An SRO must be trained on school-based policing by the
Minnesota School Safety Center, in addition to other peace officer training requirements,
before initial placement with the school district or charter school. An SRO must receive at
least 40 hours of initial training for a period not to exceed three months. The law enforcement
agency is responsible for ensuring that an SRO is appropriately trained for school placement.
Unless another agreement is established in the memorandum of understanding under
subdivision 2, the law enforcement agency and the school district or charter school must
split the expense of training the SRO.
new text end

new text begin (b) SRO training may be in-person or online. SRO training must be based on the
Minnesota School Safety Center's training guide. SRO training topics must include
community policing in schools, legal issues, cultural fluency, problem solving, safe school
preparation, child development, mental health intervention, restorative justice practices,
teaching, and classroom management strategies. At the end of training, an SRO must
demonstrate mastery of skills taught during training. After the initial training, an SRO must
receive a lesser amount of additional training each year to continue working as an SRO.
Parties to the memorandum of understanding under subdivision 2 must determine the amount
of additional SRO training required after the initial training.
new text end

new text begin (c) A school district or charter school may use safe school levy money for the training
costs associated with an SRO.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin School administrator training. new text end

new text begin A principal or other person with general
administrative control and supervision of a school building where an SRO is assigned must
complete one hour of training each year on the role of school administrators as it relates to
the role of the SRO. The school district or charter school is responsible to ensure that
principals are trained.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Report. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of education must report annually to the chairs and
ranking minority members of the legislative committees having jurisdiction over public
safety, kindergarten through grade 12 education, and human services on or before March
15 on the work of SROs including, at a minimum:
new text end

new text begin (1) the number of SROs working in the state, the names of the schools and school districts
where they are working, and the monetary amounts spent on training and employing an
SRO;
new text end

new text begin (2) the number of encounters between SROs and students, the names of the schools and
school districts where the encounter occurred, and the reason for the encounter by reporting
categories as determined by the commissioner of education, commissioner of public safety,
and the Minnesota School Safety Center;
new text end

new text begin (3) the number of juvenile arrests, the names of the schools and school districts where
the arrests occurred, and the reason for the arrests; and
new text end

new text begin (4) the number of incidents that involved the use of force by the SRO, the names of the
schools and school districts where the force occurred, and the reason for the use of force.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 126C.44, is amended to read:

126C.44 SAFE SCHOOLS LEVY.

(a) Each district may make a levy on all taxable property located within the district for
the purposes specified in this section. The maximum amount which may be levied for all
costs under this section shall be equal to deleted text begin $36 deleted text end new text begin $50 new text end multiplied by the district's adjusted pupil
units for the school year. The proceeds of the levy must be reserved and used for directly
funding the following purposes or for reimbursing the cities and counties who contract with
the district for the following purposes:

(1) to pay the costs incurred for the salaries, benefits, and transportation costs of peace
officers and sheriffs for liaison in services in the district's schools;

(2) to pay the costs for a drug abuse prevention program as defined in section 609.101,
subdivision 3, paragraph (e), in the elementary schools;

(3) to pay the costs for a gang resistance education training curriculum in the district's
schools;

(4) to pay the costs for security in the district's schools and on school property;

(5) to pay the costs for other crime prevention, drug abuse, student and staff safety,
voluntary opt-in suicide prevention tools, and violence prevention measures taken by the
school district;

(6) to pay costs for licensed school counselors, licensed school nurses, licensed school
social workers, licensed school psychologists, and licensed alcohol and chemical dependency
counselors to help provide early responses to problems;

(7) to pay for facility security enhancements including laminated glass, public
announcement systems, emergency communications devices, and equipment and facility
modifications related to violence prevention and facility security;

(8) to pay for costs associated with improving the school climate; deleted text begin or
deleted text end

(9) to pay costs for colocating and collaborating with mental health professionals who
are not district employees or contractors new text begin ;
new text end

new text begin (10) to pay for the costs associated with training a school resource officer; or
new text end

new text begin (11) to pay for costs associated with the threat assessment policy under section 121A.07 new text end .

(b) For expenditures under paragraph (a), clause (1), the district must initially attempt
to contract for services to be provided by peace officers or sheriffs with the police department
of each city or the sheriff's department of the county within the district containing the school
receiving the services. If a local police department or a county sheriff's department does
not wish to provide the necessary services, the district may contract for these services with
any other police or sheriff's department located entirely or partially within the school district's
boundaries.

(c) A school district that is a member of an intermediate school district may include in
its authority under this section the costs associated with safe schools activities authorized
under paragraph (a) for intermediate school district programs. This authority must not exceed
deleted text begin $15 deleted text end new text begin $18 new text end times the adjusted pupil units of the member districts. This authority is in addition
to any other authority authorized under this section. Revenue raised under this paragraph
must be transferred to the intermediate school district.

Sec. 4. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Department of Education. new text end

new text begin The sums indicated in this section are
appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education for the fiscal years
designated.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin School resource officer report. new text end

new text begin (a) For the costs associated with school resource
officer reporting requirements under Minnesota Statutes, section 121A.275, subdivision 5:
new text end

	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ....... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2022 new text end
	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ....... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2023 new text end

new text begin (b) The base for fiscal year 2024 and later is $.......
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Minnesota School Safety Center. new text end

new text begin (a) For a grant to the Minnesota School
Safety Center to develop a model threat assessment policy:
new text end

	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ....... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2022 new text end
	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ....... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2023 new text end

new text begin (b) The model policy must be based on the United States Secret Service's National Threat
Assessment Center's recommendations found in the operational guide titled "Enhancing
School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model."
new text end

new text begin (c) The base for fiscal year 2024 and later is $.......
new text end