VIRGINIA- When legislators in St. Paul crafted a new state law regarding the use of physical restraint procedures in schools last spring, they were likely unaware that the measure would bring an end to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office student resource officer (SRO) program.
Yet, at the ISD 2142 board meeting on Tuesday, Superintendent Reggie Engebritson told board members that the district had been notified that there won’t be officers assigned to district schools this year.
“With the new legislation on prone restraints and reasonable force, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department has determined that we need to pull the SROs from our schools, because it puts the deputies at civil or criminal liability,” Engebritson said. “They consulted with the county attorney and their advice was to end the program. We’re very disappointed because it’s been a good partnership and built good relationships with kids.”
The issue is with the law’s prohibition on the use of prone restraints, which restricts the application of pressure on a pupil’s head, throat, neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back or abdomen. Other types of restraints that officers might employ in intervening in a fight between students could involve applying pressure in some of those locations, and as the law is written the county attorney believed that could expose officers and the county to legal action.
Staffing concerns
As the new school year approaches, the district still has vacancies across the board in teaching and support staff positions, as do districts across the state. A recent KARE 11 survey found that rural districts had 349 teacher vacancies and 571 paraprofessional vacancies, and more than 60 percent of those jobs had zero applicants.
A scan of the ISD 2142 employment vacancies on Tuesday revealed openings for 11 teaching positions and eight paraprofessionals at North Woods (NW), Tower-Soudan (T-S), and Northeast Range (NER), although many of those spots were filled Tuesday by the board. It’s unknown if resignations accepted by the board on Tuesday are reflected in the vacancy count.
The Timberjay asked Engebritson about the staff shortages after the board meeting, and she said the district is doing what it can to cover the gaps, including the possibility of turning to a staple of the COVID pandemic era, distance learning.
“We’ve talked about reaching out and seeing if there are teachers in the district willing to teach their class and then have it be on Zoom, so the kids in the other school can still have the classes they need, especially in math and algebra,” she said. “We would compensate those teachers before we look outside the district to other online courses.”
And the effort to fill vacant positions is ongoing, Engebritson said.
“We’re still optimistic,” she said. “We still have some applicants looking, and we’re reaching out to others that maybe we’ve interviewed to see if there’s still an interest. The paras have gone back to five days a week and I think that’s helpful – we have been getting more applicants for that.”
Engebritson said administrators will continue to assess what the needs are and take steps to address them, possibly utilizing substitutes in certain circumstances.
In other business, the board:
• Approved adjustments to three district policies to reflect recent changes in state law.
• Approved putting three 2016 25-passenger Microbird school buses up for sale on an online auction site. In response to a question by board member Rob Marinaro, board chair Pat Christensen noted that the district has gotten good return on buses offered for sale through auction in the past.
• Rejected proposed reductions in staff for two central office positions to be changed from full-time to half-time. The motion to approve the recommendation died for lack of a second.
• Hired Kaitlyn Clemmer as a part-time ECFE teacher aide at NER.
• Hired Sara Debruzzi for a combined part-time position as library assistant and speech paraprofessional at NER.
• Hired John Zaitz as a part-time aide at T-S.
• Hired Patty Skube as a part-time paraprofessional at NER.
• Hired April Carlson as nutrition manager at NW.
• Hired Bradley Sokoloski as custodian at NW.
• Hired Patricia Frederick as a van driver at NW.
• Hired Tara Flatly as a part-time social worker at NER, which combined with an appointment as a part-time ECFE teacher position will create a full-time equivalent position.
• Hired Amiah Akerson as assistant cross country coach at NER.
• Accepted resignations/ retirements from NW paraprofessional Brielle Anderson, NW ECFE teacher aide Pat Hauta, T-S bus driver/teacher aide Jeff Poppema, NW bus driver Daniel Squires, NER assistant cross country coach Ellen Pierce, NW special education teacher Tyler Voight, NER/NW counselor Joan Kjorsvig-Beans, NER paraprofessional MaCayla Flategraff, and NW special education teacher Amiah Akerson.