Edina Officials Highlight School Resource Officers' Role in Student Safety
At a City Council retreat on March 15, Edina leaders and school officials discussed how the city's two school resource officers balance security duties with building trust among approximately 4,000 students at Valley View Middle School and Edina High School.
Edina's school resource officer program took center stage at the City Council's weekend retreat, with police officers and school administrators explaining how relationship-building serves as a cornerstone of their approach to student safety.
Officers Kyle Water Street and Joseph Delah Housen currently serve as the city's school resource officers, splitting duties between Valley View Middle School and Edina High School. Each school serves roughly 2,000 students. The officers rotate through these assignments every three to four years, with schedules adjusted based on the needs of both the school district and police department.
"I look at it as a way to try to build relationships with students, and if you can build those positive relationships and get them strong nice and early, the chance of having to deal with a student on a negative aspect is less," Officer Water Street told council members. Officer Delah Housen echoed that philosophy, saying he took the position because he wants to help younger students make good decisions.
Superintendent Dr. Stacy Stanley emphasized that these connections extend beyond school walls. "You hear kids all the time talking about Officer Joe and just how important he is, or Officer Kyle and how they're able to talk to him," Stanley said. "That just plays a significant role as kids are out in the community. In the event anything does happen in the future, those relationships are established and there's a sense of trust."
School administrators noted that when students are asked whether they want resource officers in their schools, they typically express support for the program. The officers operate as part of the school district's broader safety and security plan. No votes were taken at the retreat, which served as a discussion session rather than a formal business meeting.
This story was created by artificial intelligence (a large language model) based on the proceedings captured in the video below.
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Other Topics from This Document
Relationship-Building as a Safety Strategy
SRO Assignment and Staffing Structure
Also from this meeting
▸Meeting Analysis
“I look at it as a way to try to build relationships with students and if you can build those positive relationships and get them strong nice and early the chance of having to deal with a student at least in my mind on a negative aspect is less”
“you know hear kids all the time talking about officer Joe and just how important he is or officer Kyle and how they're able to talk to him and um that just plays a significant role as kids are out in the community in the event anything does happen in the future um those relationships are established and there's a sense of trust”
“I wanted to get into the position because I want to make connections I want to try to help uh kids when they're maybe a little bit younger in terms of trying to make good decisions”
“often times when you um ask students whether or not they want SRO in the schools the students will tell us that they do”
▸Source Document
[Music] close to 4,000 students Walk The Halls of Valley View Middle and Edina High School on any day of the week you'll find the city's two school resource officers there as well their work of helping to keep schools safe also includes time for fun Edina TV shows us how socializing and safety go handin hand 88: a.m. can feel early for these Valley View Middle School students all right but they're awake preparing for an important day of testing MCA that means no visory no flex you're going straight to your testing site this before school program is called hornet Central 1 2 go and it's not only for studying that was a nice kick and on this day got it it's not only for students kids get a chance to have some fun burn some energy before going to class for the whole day joining them is school resource officer Kyle Water Street how often do you get to throw dodgeballs at a cop this is Officer Water Street second year in a position where Safety and Security are top priorities but so is spending time like this with students I look at it as a way to try to build relationships with students and if you can build those positive relationships and get them strong nice and early the chance of having to deal with a student at least in my mind on a negative aspect is less the city has two school resource officers also called sro's Joseph Delah Housen is assigned to the high school together they're an integral part of the school district Safety and Security plan when a crisis does come up and inevitably in public schools that does happen uh they are are direct connection to um the police department superintendent Dr Stacy Stanley says those one-on-one relationships are tied to safety you know hear kids all the time talking about officer Joe and just how important he is or officer Kyle and how they're able to talk to him and um that just plays a significant role as kids are out in the community in the event anything does happen in the future um those relationships are established and there's a sense of trust you got this trust built on daily conversations and fist bumps I wanted to get into the position because I want to make connections I want to try to help uh kids when they're maybe a little bit younger in terms of trying to make good decisions when students already have a lot in their minds they know school resource officers are never far away they allow our staff and our kids to feel safe often times when you um ask students whether or not they want SRO in the schools the students will tell us that they do at Valley View Middle School I'm Dan Carpenter for Adina TV the police department offers the school resource officer assignment as a rotating position the term can last between 3 and 4 years depending on the needs of the school district and police department
This story was created by artificial intelligence (a large language model) based on the proceedings captured in the video below.
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