St. Paul district seeks a fresh start with in-school officers

After a rocky end to the 2015-16 school year, the St. Paul School District is tackling the controversy surrounding school resource officers (sworn law enforcement officers, also called SROs) by moving to ensure that police have a more positive presence in the schools.

Traditional uniforms are to be replaced by light-blue polo shirts, and if an officer arrests a student, efforts are to be made to have a school administrator present until the student is put in a squad car.

The steps are among several to be taken under a new $984,499 contract approved Tuesday that will guide the deployment and activities of nine resource officers serving the state’s second-largest district in 2016-17.

http://www.startribune.com/st-paul-schools-eye-changes-governing-resource-officers/391106631/