Golden Valley City Council to Vote on School Resource Officer in September

The Golden Valley City Council is expected to vote early in September on whether a School Resource Officer should return to Sandberg Middle School and Robbinsdale Academy – Highview this fall.

The district requested an SRO come back to the school in July.

In a letter to the council, Golden Valley’s police accountability commission opposed the move.

“I think the school is definitely going to welcome it,” Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green said. “And I think the student are going to welcome it, the parents are going to welcome it, as well as the teachers. So this is a buy in from not just the school district but everybody who is within that school.”

The Golden Valley City Council will vote in September on whether a School Resource Officer should return to Sandberg Middle School this fall.

Green said that if the council moves ahead with the request, the police department might need to search outside of existing patrol staff for a candidate.

“But we’re also looking internally to see if we have somebody there who fits that,” Green said. 

Green said that armed SROs were in schools for years without interrupting the learning process. 

“My question had been that, in decades past, there was an SRO there who was armed — what has changed after everything happened up here with George Floyd?” Green said. “For decades previously it did not bring that same concern.”

Schools should have an armed SRO to address safety issues, Green said. 

“Having an SRO there without a weapon is not a good practice for law enforcement,” he said. “If there is ever to be an active shooter in that school, that is a disadvantage to that officer there to be able to protect himself. And to be able to protect the school at-large.”

Golden Valley