Minn. Catholic Leaders Previously Warned Tim Walz On School Safety: Letter

The leader of the Minnesota Catholic Conference stated that Catholic and other nonpublic schools were in “urgent and critical need” of security upgrades in a letter that was resurrected and addressed to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The letter read, “Our schools are under attack.”

The request was ignored, and two years later, a shooter opened fire on students at a Minneapolis Catholic school during Mass, leaving two people dead and seventeen injured, bringing the worries expressed by Catholic officials to life.

Tim Benz, president of the private school advocacy group MINNDEPENDENT, and Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, sent the letter, which was first published by the Daily Wire. The letter, which was sent on April 14, 2023, is still accessible to the general public on the website of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

“We are writing on behalf of our respective organizations regarding the urgent and critical need in Minnesota to make sure our schools are secure and safe considering the most recent, and continuing attacks, on our schools in this country and in our state,” the leaders wrote.

In the letter, the leaders pointed to the mass shooting at Covenant Christian School in Nashville, which had occurred just a week before the letter was sent, saying, “The latest school shooting at a nonpublic Christian school in Tennessee sadly confirms what we already know – our schools are under attack.”

“In Minnesota, nonpublic schools, particularly our Jewish and Muslim schools, have experienced increased levels of threats, all of which we must take very seriously,” the leaders added. “The tragedy from last week at Covenant School must never happen in Minnesota or in our country again.”

The leaders voiced grave concerns that nonpublic schools’ exclusion from the $50 million Building and Cyber Security Grant Program and the state’s Safe Schools Program, which offers emergency response training, security upgrades, mental health services, and other security measures, could put Minnesota’s 72,000 students enrolled in independent, Catholic, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim schools in jeopardy.

The leaders said they were especially concerned given “the most recent, and continuing attacks, on our schools in this country and in our state.”

“We need to ensure that all of schools have the resources to respond to and prevent these attacks from happening to our schools,” the leaders wrote.

“An attack on any school, whether it is a public, nonpublic, charter or another school site, cannot be tolerated or allowed to happen in Minnesota,” the leaders added. “We want to make sure Minnesota is doing everything it can to ensure that all our students are safe and secure. We ask you include $50 million in the final Education Finance bill and allow nonpublic schools to apply for funding.”

The spokeswoman also cited prior requests made to Walz in 2022 by the conference and Minnesota Catholic bishops for the inclusion of Catholic and other nonpublic schools in the state’s school safety initiatives.

Fox 9 reports that in a June 2022 video, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis urged Walz to call a special session of the state legislature to approve a bill that would provide all schools, including nonpublic ones, with permanent funding streams for mental health, violence prevention, and security improvements.

The Building and Cyber Security Grant Program is still only open to cooperative units, school districts, or charter schools, excluding nonpublic institutions, according to a new policy statement released by the Minnesota Department of Education.

Furthermore, the revenue given to each school is correlated with its tax levy, meaning private schools are not eligible for the funds, according to a statute describing the Safe Schools Program that is accessible on the website of the Minnesota legislature.

Walz’s office, however, told Fox News that “private schools do indeed receive state funding” and that “they are also eligible for school safety center resources, including trainings.”

Walz’s spokesperson said, “The governor cares deeply about the safety of students and has signed into law millions in funding for school safety.”