The City of St. Louis Park will shift the roles of our current School Resource Officers (SROs) to a new role called Juvenile Response Officers. While officers will no longer be stationed in St. Louis Park Middle School and St. Louis Park High School, they will continue to focus on student safety and wellbeing. 

St. Louis Park Public Schools is grateful for the long history of partnership and collaboration with the St. Louis Park Police Department. We want to acknowledge our most recent SROs, Officer Maurice Smith, Officer Stanikka Alcantara, and Officer Pam Gronski, who are integral members of our school community. Officer Alcantara and Officer Gronski  will continue to serve and build relationships with students as Juvenile Response Officers. 

Under this new model, Juvenile Response Officers will maintain strong ties to our schools on a day to day basis. They will connect with school administrators daily, patrol areas in close proximity to schools during school hours, and remain the police department’s point person for urgent and nonurgent school-related safety concerns.

In addition to providing support through the Juvenile Response Officers, the Police Department will continue to respond to emergency situations involving schools, provide officer presence for school sporting events similar to other community events, hold proactive safety drills in our schools, partner on our Emergency Preparedness Committee, and strengthen and support our Incident Command Structure for responding to critical incidents.  

St. Louis Park Public Schools is committed to maintaining a safe and secure learning environment for all students and staff. By prioritizing a safety-minded school culture, implementing multiple layers of safety, and continuously reviewing and enhancing safety practices, the district ensures that everyone can thrive in an atmosphere that promotes learning and well-being. Be familiar with St. Louis Park Public Schools many layers of safety and the new safety measures taking effect this school year, please read, “Building a Safety-Conscious Community: Empowering all for School Safety.”

This shift may prompt community conversation about what the future of the partnership between the school district and police department could look like. St. Louis Park Public Schools plans to engage our community, especially students, in a process to better understand the needs of our school community and form recommendations for our school board to consider. More information about a community engagement process will be shared at a later time.