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District may hire resource officer; wage paid by city, county, school

Subhead
Discussion also includes closing high school noon hour
By
Mavis Fodness

Luverne School Board members will reconsider hiring a school resource officer in a three-way agreement with the city of Luverne and Rock County.
They will also consider closing the lunch hour at the high school — meaning students would not be able to leave campus for lunch.
The topics were discussed at a board workshop Thursday night, June 10. Formal action may be on the agenda of the next regular board meeting June 24.
Luverne Mayor Pat Baustian and Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge met with school officials earlier this month about hiring a full-time school resource officer.
Area schools, most recently Jackson County Central, have hired law enforcement officers to work in districts.
Details on what the officer would do in Luverne schools would be determined by the entities involved. School officials are open to having an officer assist with risky behaviors such as drug use and increasing truancy.
Middle school principal Jason Phelps said resources were stretched thin during the 2020-21 school year with attendance issues. He said there may be value in having a person visit students’ homes and connect with students at school.
“There were some things at the middle school level this year, and parents called and said, ‘Hey, what are we going to do about that?’ Part of the answer could be a resource officer,” Phelps said.
Board members previously considered hiring a resource officer in 2017. A middle school principal was hired instead.
The current proposal would have the city, county and school share the costs, estimated at $33,000 per entity.
The timeframe would potentially place an officer in the school district next year.
The decision to close the noon hour would force the ninth through 12th-grade students to either bring their own lunches or eat school lunch in the new commons area that will be open this fall.
Discussions among board members — Katie Baustian was not in attendance — included using a possible graduated approach to keeping students on campus, to leaving the open campus privilege available to seniors over the lunch hour.
Because potentially 200 to 300 more meals would need to be prepared by kitchen staff in the event of a closed noon hour, a decision needs to be made soon.
The June 24 school board meeting begins at 7 p.m., with community input available at 6:30 p.m. The public many contact the superintendent’s office, 507-283-8088, to address the board.

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