School districts have long safety wish lists but little funding.
By Kim Hyatt,
Jana Hollingsworth,
Jp Lawrence and
Jenny Berg
The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 20, 2025 at 11:00AM
Nevis, where voters in April resoundingly rejected a $41.5 million bond request, is waiting until next year to ask again in hopes of getting upgrades with an emphasis on securing school buildings.
Superintendent Ranae Seykora, who is in her first year at Nevis, said there are doors that don’t lock. She said she is hesitant to share too much detail because she wants to underscore the urgency without revealing vulnerabilities.
The white board in her new office displays strategies and calculations to get a bond issue passed. One approach: focus on health and safety.
“We love our kids, and that’s our worst nightmare, to have something happen to them when we could have made it better,” she said.
Minnesota House Republicans have proposed a slate of school safety policies that include security grants, an increase in school resource officers and an extension of state safety funding to nonpublic schools.
“Minnesotans deserve real solutions that will meaningfully protect students and actually reduce gun violence,” House Speaker Lisa Demuth said in a statement on the proposals.