St. Paul school surveys after stabbing death show desire for tougher student consequences

Josh Verges, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

Students, staff and parents want tougher consequences for student misbehavior, along with more mental health support and perhaps the return of school resource officers, according to St. Paul Public Schools surveys conducted following a fatal stabbing at Harding High School.

For now, district administrators are recommending only modest changes, such as promoting a tip line, establishing calming rooms in schools and restoring as many yellow bus routes as possible so that high school students don’t have to use Metro Transit.

Through surveys and listening sessions about school safety, the district has heard from more than 9,000 people since the Feb. 10 stabbing.

A summary presented to the school board Tuesday showed hallways and restrooms were clear trouble spots: 28 percent of student respondents said they feel unsafe in school hallways and 23 percent in restrooms.

Traveling home from school was next, with 11 percent of students feeling unsafe.

“We heard a lot about bathrooms, hallways and transportation during our listening sessions, as well,” district research director Kara Arzamendia said.

Since the stabbing death of a student, which took place in the hallway at Harding while classes were being held, the district has introduced digital hall passes that show the staff which students have permission to be in the halls. Other schools may adopt that idea soon.

Although restrooms are another problem spot for St. Paul high schools, their design makes a big difference. Thirty-one percent of students said they feel unsafe in traditional group restrooms that separate boys from girls, while just 12 percent feel unsafe in new gender-neutral, single-occupancy restrooms like those at Como Park, Humboldt and Johnson high schools.

“It really takes away a lot of the opportunity for groups to congregate in areas that are hard to supervise,” Superintendent Joe Gothard said of the single-occupancy stalls.

Police in schools

Some ideas the district is considering, including hiring more staff to monitor common areas and improving access controls to buildings, received only tepid support in surveys.

Somewhat more popular, at least among high school students and their parents, was to bring back school resource officers, who the school board removed after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and replaced with unarmed safety liaisons.

A group of high school principals met with the school board this spring to endorse bringing the officers back because principals “do not have the training to disarm students with weapons,” Arzamendia said.

The idea also ranked highly among parents and school staff. And although students liked other ideas better, 78 percent said it’s a “good idea” to post police officers in schools.

The surveys showed less support for buying metal detectors or surveillance cameras or hiring additional security staff.

Punishment, mental health

The top suggestion among high school staff and parent survey respondents was to take a tougher disciplinary approach with students who act out.

“Make it clear that students are there to learn and bad behavior will have consequences,” one surveyed parent said.

That idea ranked third among students.

The principals also called for better communication from the school district, including getting information about students who transfer into their schools for behavioral reasons.

The top suggestion from students was to establish quiet rooms for students, which the district is doing at 30 schools. Gothard said students appreciate having school counselors and social workers to talk to, but it can be hard to get an appointment; the quiet rooms can serve as a backup plan for struggling students.

Students, staff and parents all expressed strong support in the surveys for increased mental health supports for students, too.

Bus routes

The district plans to restore some yellow bus routes for high schools next year, although how many and where hasn’t been determined.

The district has bought thousands of Metro Transit passes for high schoolers in the last two school years because of a pandemic-related driver shortage that forced a reduction in yellow bus service.

Overall, 89 percent of students responding to a survey question about transportation said they feel safe getting home from school. But only 72 percent of Metro Transit bus riders and 58 percent of light-rail passengers said the same.

Related Articles