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Albert Lea’s school resource officers said they have seen a decrease in the number of fights taking place at Southwest Middle School and Albert Lea High School since the implementation of a second officer in the district this year.

School Resource Officers Adam Conn and David Huse gave an update to the school board Monday on how the school year had gone thus far since the city and school district collaborated to have the second position.

Conn said he and Huse divided up the schools in the district so that Huse oversees calls on the four schools on the south — Southwest Middle School and Sibley, Halverson and Lakeview elementary schools — while he oversees the other four on the northern part of the city — Brookside Education Center, the Area Learning Center, the high school and Hawthorne Elementary School.

Conn said it has been helpful to have Huse at Southwest and for students to know that he is there as a resource to talk to if they have issues.

He said the fights, many of which are driven by social media and then escalate, aren’t as prevalent as in the past, although they do still occasionally occur.

He also noted they are still seeing vaping and that the legalization of marijuana at the state level for 21 and older has not helped. Now that it’s legalized, he said they are seeing less nicotine and more marijuana.

Conn said right now it is not a crime for a student to have drug paraphernalia in the school, and he is working with the city on possibly amending the city ordinance to hold youth accountable for the paraphernalia.

“A lot of it I think boils down to educating the students and educating the parents,” Conn said.

Currently there is a diversion program in place for students caught with marijuana under 21, which allows them to complete a class and have their charge removed.

Superintendent Ron Wagner said the district is also looking at getting a drug and alcohol counselor to support the high school youth and educate them about the ramifications of their decisions.

Huse said he spends a majority of his time at Southwest and noted that building the connections with students has “done wonders.”

Though the vaping is not as prevalent at Southwest, he said he does see it. In those cases, he also tries to go out of his way to provide education or find out the reason why the student is engaging in the behavior. He also tries to educate the students about social media.

Huse said he gets called to Lakeview mainly for behavioral issues and tries to talk through situations and deescalate using verbal tactics and has found great success with that.

Conn said they are still looking for clarification on the new state law that limits physical restraints that can be used on students but noted they don’t operate hands-on unless they have to. He noted within his three years in the schools, he’s only had to “go hands-on” with one student.

School board member Angie Hoffman asked if students are able to defend themselves at school without getting into trouble, and Conn said students are allowed to defend themselves if there’s not a way to get out of the situation otherwise.