When a student received a text message saying that another student was heading toward campus with a gun, the recipient notified an SRO, who promptly put the campus into an unusual Code Red lock down. After students taunted black classmates with…
Author: Bernie James
School Safety Law News for 4/16/12
A Maryland high school principal is trying to balance student protests—which call for smaller class sizes, higher teacher wages, increased student involvement in education policymaking, and more—with the need to provide campus safety. Cyberbullying is now illegal in Erie County,…
School Safety Law News for 4/13/12
One student’s comment about a classmate — “he’d be the type to bring a gun to school” — morphed via social media into rumors of an actual threat. A police investigation cleared the suspect, but both students and parents are…
School Safety Law News for 4/12/12
Washington state high schools are using security cameras to monitor students throughout their campuses, thanks to local taxes and a matching federal grant. Racist tweets lead to a police investigation and school reprimands for three football players. Students who created…
School Safety Law News for 4/11/12
Ten days after a student submitted a threatening essay, which detailed how he would conduct a school shooting, the student posted his essay on Facebook. Parents are upset that the school only notified them after the essay went online. Visitors…
Brave Students and Timely Tips: Texting Successfully Alerts Educators in Utah
Roy Utah: Utah girl credited with alerting officials over alleged school bombing plot Via StandardExaminer.net and MSNBC.msn.com An appropriate follow-up to the previous post on anonymous tip lines is this report of a foiled plot to bomb a public school campus a…
Bullying and Anonymous Tips: Students Texting to Educators as First Alert
McLean Co., KY: McLean Co Schools now using texting to report bullying Via 14wfie.com Educators are implementing a new kind of anonymous tip line that allows students to send text messages about any issue without giving their names. The approach…
Keeping Up with the Transferring Student: The Duty to Share Information
DA Leone: Information Sharing Amongst Schools Vital to Public Safety Via Arlington Patch There is understandable frustration by many over the reluctance of educators to understand the new legal climate in which information may be shared to enhance campus safety.…
New Strategy for Improving School Safety: Removing All Lockers
Hall lockers? Some schools say no Via USA Today This is a difficult trend to understand, especially given the state of school safety legal reform. Educators have a wide range of options available with the campus and the physical plant. …
State and Federal Privacy Laws Complicate School Safety in Washington State School District
Student-privacy laws complicate schools’ ability to prevent attacksVia: The Seattle Times This story continues the myths surrounding state and federal student records privacy laws. Persistent misperceptions exist about the role of FERPA in the safe schools movement. This need not…