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ST. PAUL -- Minnesota schools have detailed policies for how students should behave and what happens when they act out, but they are less clear about how educators should intervene when violence erupts.

State law allows school staff to use “reasonable force” to prevent “bodily harm or death” of students and staff. But districts rely on guidelines rather than direct policies on whether educators should physically try to stop fights in schools.

Gary Lee, director of member services for the Minnesota School Boards Association, said educators are encouraged to follow the law, ask for help and trust their judgment.

“They are going to do whatever they can to keep as many people safe as possible,” Lee said Wednesday.

A school fight turned dangerous Friday for John Ekblad, a science teacher at St. Paul’s Central High School, when he tried to break up a student melee in the lunchroom.

Ekblad suffered a concussion and traumatic brain injury and was hospitalized after he was slammed against a wall and a table, and choked unconscious. An administrator also was hurt.

Student Fon’Tae O’Bannon, 16, was arrested and charged Tuesday in Ekblad’s assault. A 15-year-old also was charged in juvenile court in the lunchroom incident.

Ekblad’s decision to intervene in the fight appears to follow guidelines Superintendent Valeria Silva shared with district staff in an October newsletter. That communication encouraged staff to use their best judgment when dealing with student altercations.

“Do not place hands on a student unless harm or danger to students or staff is imminent,” the message said. “If your judgment tells you to intervene, act in the safest and fastest way possible.”

Gary Amoroso, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, said Silva’s advice is similar to the guidelines most districts follow. He noted that teachers and staff often must react quickly.

“I think you look at each situation, what is happening and what are the chances of harm,” Amoroso said. “These are not situations that allow you to sit and reflect. There is not a set of guidelines that are uniform.”

Discipline and the safety of students and staff have become top issues for the St. Paul Federation of Teachers as it negotiates a new contract with the district. Union leaders have urged administrators to overhaul discipline and safety policies and add more support staff.

In a survey sent to members this month, union leaders said the district has not gone far enough to address those priorities.

The survey asked members if they would support a strike to force administrators to do more about discipline, safety and the need for more support staff.

The union filed a petition Tuesday to bring a state mediator into negotiations, the first step toward a strike.

Instances of student discipline at St. Paul schools rose from 4,130 during the 2011-12 school year to 5,130 during the 2013-14 school year, according to the latest state data.

Reports of students being disciplined for assault also grew, but reports of discipline for fights and disruptive behavior declined.

National data shows 6.5 percent of Minnesota teachers reported being physically attacked on the job in 2011, the last year nationwide numbers are available.

That’s about 1 percentage point more than the national average and a 2 percentage point increase in Minnesota since 1994.





Dan Bauman contributed to this report.