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Safety Law News for November 3, 2023

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— In Oregon, the Court of Appeals of Oregon ruled that Oregon law required the reversal of dismissed claims brought by paraeducators who worked in special education classrooms within the Portland Public Schools.  The paraeducators claimed that, “they repeatedly and regularly were subjected to physical assaults, and in some instances sexual assaults, by students, but, despite complaints and entreaties… (that school officials) failed to correct or ameliorate their working conditions.”  The appellate court ruled that the trial court erred when it dismissed claims for battery, hostile work environment and disability discrimination.  “(The) public school district was directly liable for alleged batteries committed by students, where allegations included that district knew that students were physically aggressive or violent and committing battery against paraeducators… had authority… but failed to take any corrective action.”  The work environment could be found to be hostile at trial because (the), “abuse was offensive and interfered with paraeducators’ work, safety, and wellbeing, (and) that…paraeducators (were a) protected class, specifically that they were female.”  The failure of the school officials to take appropriate action “was outside scope of their employment… precluding substitution of (the school) district as sole defendant.”  Moore v. Portland Public Schools.

— In South Dakota, the superintendent for the Rapid City Area Schools says that “more safety measures in Rapid City schools would be forthcoming.  Specifically, a gun incident, in which a deployed police officer “made the call…did the body search and found the weapon,” will provide the emphasis for a change in policy.  The new policy will seek funding to add weapon detection equipment in the schools.

— In Colorado, officials in the Douglas County School District are adding therapy dogs to the school safety team.  After receiving a multi discipline therapy K-9 certification, the new policy will partner therapy dogs with school resource officers.  Training will be provided “on ways to provide emotional support.”

— In Michigan, “(m)issteps and failures by Oxford Community School’s former superintendent and two former members of his cabinet snowballed to allow the Oxford High School shooter to slip through the school’s threat assessment and suicide intervention systems and carry out Michigan’s worst school shooting, according to a 572-page report” issued by a team of investigators from Guidepost Solutions.

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Safety Law News for October 27, 2023

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— In California, the California Court of Appeal denied immunity to a school district for injuries to a student who made her way to school by other means when the school bus “had not arrived for 40 minutes after the scheduled time.”  The student “got picked up from the bus stop by a friend whom she had texted. During their ride to school, the friend’s car was hit head on by another driver, causing (the student) to suffer fatal injuries.”  The court reversed the dismissal of the lawsuit by the trial court.  First, although California law declares schools are immune when students are not on school property (Cal. Educ. Code § 44808), “once a school district undertakes to provide transportation for its pupils, it has a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances.”  The appellate court ruled that this exception to the off-campus immunity statute requires reversal, allowing the case to go forward.  Brinsmead v. Elk Grove Unified School District

— In Georgia, the Lieutenant Governor is proposing paying teachers “who hold a firearms training certificate an annual stipend.”  He wants to pay teachers $10,000 a year to encourage them to carry guns in schools.

— In Pennsylvania, the Senate Education Committee approved legislation that would mandate a “trained, armed school police, school resource or school security officer to be in every school building during school hours.” A state-wide poll “found 69 percent of voters favor requiring school districts to put an armed officer in every school. Additionally, 73 percent say they believe it would make schools safer.”

— In Colorado, the MOU between the Denver schools and the police department “outlines what the officers should and should not do.”  As one of the conditions for the officers returning to the schools, the agreement specifies that “officers should differentiate between disciplinary issues and crime problems and respond appropriately, and should not store guns inside schools.”

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Safety Law News for October 24, 2023

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— In Pennsylvania the United States District Court ruled that the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) were not violated by keeping a student in an interim alternative education setting beyond the forty-five (45) day limit without a hearing.  The special needs student “brought a three-inch pocketknife to school and was displaying the knife to other students.”  A manifestation determination meeting ruled that it was not a manifestation of his disability nor “caused by the Local Educational Agency’s (LEA’s) failure to implement the IEP.”  Educators placed the student in an “interim alternative educational setting for forty-five (45) days due to the weapons violation,” and later agreed with his grandparents to delay his “return to the District high school (until) the beginning of the second marking period, thereby extending the 45-day placement.”  Soon thereafter, the student sent an email threatening to “ shoot up the school and die” and killed a named school official.  The manifestation determination again ruled that this incident was not a manifestation of his disability.  The student was expelled for the school year.  The Administrative Hearing Officer concluded that the District had not denied the student his IDEA rights.  On appeal, the court ruled that, “review of a hearing officer’s decision in an IDEA case is subject to a unique standard of review…(in which) findings of fact … are to be considered prima facie correct…and no deference is given to the hearing officer’s legal holdings.”  The court ruled that ‘the determination of whether a change in a child’s educational routine is a “change in placement” is a fact-specific one.”  Therefore, “based on the evidence, a reasonable fact finder could not conclude that the extension of the interim placement constituted a “change in placement.”  Jordan L. v. East Stroudsburg Area School District

— In Indiana, the Governor approved The Secured School Safety Grant a nearly $30 million grant to enhance Indiana school security.  The funding is “allocated in various categories, two-thirds of which went to increasing the number of school resources and law enforcement officers within local school systems.”

— In Kentucky, the Kentucky School Security Marshal says schools fall short in providing both resource officers, and mental health counselors.  The Task Force on School and Campus Safety found that “the main culprits for not having assigned SRO, majority of course was funding and personnel.”

— In Arizona, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is entering into an agreement with private a company to address staffing shortages that is making filling school resource officer positions difficult. Arizona law provides millions of dollars in grants for schools to hire school resource officers, as well as counselors and social workers.  As to officers, “when they went to hire someone, they found out that the police departments couldn’t spare enough people to fill those positions.”

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Safety Law News for October 19, 2023

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— In Maryland the United States District Court denied qualified immunity to a school administrator accused by a parent of failing to protect her child.  The “six-year-old public school student (was) in the first grade …when she was sexually abused by two female classmates.”  The court held that, (t)he harm of sexual harassment consists not only of specific acts, but also the hostile “environment” or “atmosphere” these acts create.”  Qualified immunity was inappropriate because the allegations showed that, “after (the student) was abused on five separate occasions in her classroom, (the administrator) knew what occurred, yet allowed (the student)  to remain in the same class as her abusers, and failed to protect (the student)  from further sexual abuse or…separate her from the other female classmates who abused her.  The court ruled that “the law clearly established that a school administrator has a duty to ameliorate such an environment. Therefore, it is not appropriate to grant (the administrator) qualified immunity with respect to plaintiff’s equal protection claim.”  Latisha Robinson v. Board of Education of Washington County

–In Arizona, officials in the Arizona Department of Education have approved a policy authorizing schools to fill vacant school resource officer positions with off-duty police officers.  The officers “will receive less training than traditional school resource officers, who typically get 40 hours of training. School safety officers will take eight hours of asynchronous training on things unique to the school environment.”

— In Minnesota, an investigation reveals that the incidence of guns in schools is increasing.

“Schools are required to report to the Minnesota Department of Education when a weapon is found on the property.”  The data show that “70 handgun or long guns were confiscated in schools during the 2021-22 school year. That is more than double the highest previous total and three times the 22 guns recovered during 2018-19 – the last full year before the pandemic kept many kids out of the classroom…In Minneapolis Public Schools alone, 30 guns were recovered during 2021-22, a significant increase over the four previous years combined.”

— In Arkansas, officials in the Pangburn School District are replacing more than 100 door locks and handles in three of the district’s oldest buildings.  Officials discovered that some buildings “still have the original locking mechanisms and different keys for every door.”  The upgrade is part of a comprehensive revision of the safety plan that includes, “ID badge card reader system… maglocks and ID scanners… a new Tiger tip line…(and) staff members (who) carry concealed firearms on campus.”

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Safety Law News for October 13, 2023

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— In New Jersey, the United States District Court, dismissed a lawsuit filed by a student who refused to comply with the Bag Policy.  The Bag Policy, in pertinent part states, “All students are permitted to carry clear book bags only. Purses and oversized bags are not permitted. Students may carry electronic device(s) in a small sleeve/protective cover, a water bottle, book(s)/notebook(s) and a small purse.”  In dismissing the lawsuit, the court ruled that, “it is well-established that “students within the school environment have a lesser expectation of privacy than members of the population generally… Furthermore, courts around the country give great deference to school officials in effectuating policies and procedures to protect student safety…. Requiring all students who choose to use a backpack to use a translucent one while at school appears clearly within the school district’s discretion in an effort to ensure and promote school safety.”  Krasil v. Betze

–In New York, the Buffalo School Board President called a special school board meeting requesting the Superintendent to provide an update on school safety.  The request comes after incidents in which violence canceled a football game, victimized an employee and a student during the school day, and the arrest of a person who sparred with several students on the lawn outside a school.

— In Indiana, the Scott County Sheriff’s Office is determining whether to remove school resource officers and deploy them on patrol because of funding and staff shortages.  The issue is arising because, “deputies are leaving the county to work for other departments in Indiana that are offering thousands more dollars in wages.”

— In Oklahoma, Bartlesville Police will get ballistic shields for its school resource officers, thanks to a $5,000 donation from a local auto dealer.  The ballistic shields can be used to help protect both officers and students if an active shooter were to come onto campus.

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Safety Law News for September 29, 2023

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— In New York, the Supreme Court Appellate Division, affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a student who claimed that he “was assaulted, harassed, and subjected to bullying by other students during an incident that occurred while (he) was attending an overnight school trip.”  The applicable rule is that, “(s)chools have a duty to adequately supervise the students in their care, and may be held liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related to the absence of adequate supervision.”  The appellate court agreed with the trial court that when asserting a claim, the student must show “(a)ctual or constructive notice to the school of prior similar conduct,” that puts on notice the school that the misconduct is foreseeable.  The educators “had no actual or constructive notice of prior conduct by the students allegedly involved herein that was similar to the subject incident.”  Burdo v. Cold Spring Harbor Central School District

— In Kentucky, officials in Lincoln County are renewing efforts to deploy officers onto its school campuses after a threat caused the lockdown of a high school and a middle school.  They are discussing the possibility of “filling the state-wide SRO shortage by hiring active duty and retired National Guard and military personnel.”

— In Alabama, the Mobile County School Board is constrained in placing officers in all of its schools because it does not enough officers certified through the Alabama Peace Officer Standards.  Only three officers are trained.  Additional officers will be deployed “as they become available.”

— In Missouri, officials in the Grandview R-2 School District are considering arming teachers and administrators.  State law provides that school boards can arm teachers and administrators on school property so they can respond to active shooter situations.  The community is being invited to a public hearing to share their views.