Linda Madsen
Guest Columnist
Our faculty and staff at Forest Lake Area Schools bring a vast amount of education, experience and expertise to their schools and classrooms. However, there are some aspects of students’ lives where educators are not the experts, and for those areas we rely on our community partners for help.
One of our most important community partners is the Forest Lake Police Department, particularly those individuals who serve as our school resource officers.
These officers spend their days within our school building making connections with students and families. Their interactions build relationships with students in a positive way, so they’re a part of each student’s life – not just in the bad times, but in the good times, too.
Recently, our students at Southwest Junior High showed how much they appreciate their school resource officer, Troy Meyer, who was hospitalized and had to undergo a lung transplant. In an overwhelming display of support and concern, Southwest students donated more than $1,600 to help with medical expenses and other costs for Meyer and his family.
As heartwarming as it is to see the bond between school resource officers and students, these positive interactions aren’t just for the sake of making friends. While our school resource officers talk with students or watch interactions in the hallways, they’re keeping an eye out for students in crisis and looking for situations that may potentially build into a challenge for staff or students.
Their law enforcement experience and connection to what’s happening in the community provide another perspective on individual situations or possible patterns of behavior that may endanger our students or schools. They can identify these issues and work to address them proactively before they build into a larger crisis. With their help, our district provides support and intervention through school principals, counselors and other district staff or outside resources.
Our school resource officers spend most of their time in the high school and junior high buildings, but they also make frequent visits to our elementary schools and Area Learning Center. Many of our elementary schools located outside of the Forest Lake city limits are also supported by other local law enforcement departments, including the Washington, Chisago and Anoka County sheriff’s departments, as well as the Lino Lakes and Wyoming police departments.
Even though we do everything we can to work proactively and prevent any crisis before it happens, we still need to be prepared. The Forest Lake Police Department and other local public safety agencies have worked tirelessly to help our district develop a crisis plan for a wide range of scenarios from fires and natural disasters to intruders and other security threats. They bring considerable training and experience to the table to help us plan for situations and contingencies that we, as educators, might not have considered without their input.
Even though our training is different, law enforcement and educators share the same goal of serving the community and keeping children and families safe. It makes sense for us to have a strong partnership, work together and share our expertise to accomplish that goal.
Linda Madsen is the superintendent of Forest Lake Area Schools.