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Safety Law News for 6/28/12

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  • After an assault on an elementary school bus, the Massachusetts superintendent announced that students involved were disciplined—and that students on this bus must now adhere to a seating chart.
  • A Florida student claims that educators disciplined her for reporting the bullying of a special needs student and for seeking to stop the misbehavior.
  • Colorado legislators have eased zero tolerance policies amid a general change in thinking, which disfavors such policies, while California legislators are considering nine bills on student discipline.
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Safety Law News for 6/26/12

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  • The Illinois Senate approved legislation that would permit police to share juvenile information with educators, when students are violent outside of school and are believed to pose an immediate threat to others.
  • As Tampa educators and SROs win student trust, middle and high school students are providing crime tips.
  • A seventh grader choked a classmate in the Decatur city square and left him unconscious. Georgia educators said they could not discipline the aggressor for his off-campus activity.
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Safety Law News for 6/22/12

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  • About 60 high school seniors decided to organize a celebratory bike ride to school, rather than a senior prank, and secured a police and mayoral escort. The seniors were disciplined when they arrived at school, based on the upset principal’s safety concerns, but the school is now lifting those sanctions.
  • Educators in Smithtown, New York can now administer Breathalyzer tests to students during school hours and at school-sponsored events. Positive test results will trigger parent or guardian notifications, while students at risk of alcohol poisoning can also be referred to medical personnel.
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School Safety Law News for 6/18/12

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  • A high school freshman in New York was suspended for her anti-bullying class projects: a YouTube video and a Facebook page featuring a fictitious bullying victim, who commits suicide. Educators allegedly said that the student’s actions could lead to jail time, while many families believe the school overreacted.
  • An Oklahoma sixth grader was expelled for dunking a classmate’s head in the toilet—and his principal reported him to the police. This appears to be a first time offense. “I think bullying has been a problem since I was in school. It’s just dealt with differently now,” the principal said.
  • School safety goes collaborative in Maryland, where community members in AAA of Maryland reward students for being Outstanding School Safety Patrols. Students are selected for leadership, solid academics, and character.
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Safety Law News 6/12/12

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  • Wyoming students have a new motivation to avoid drugs: participation in extracurricular activities will be conditioned on participation in random drug tests.
  • Parents are worried after two attempted kidnappings in Oregon. Educators say that a young girl responded to an attempted abduction, at the bus stop, exactly as the school trained her to do: she walked away.
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Safety Law News for 6/8/12

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  • Indianapolis Public Schools expelled a student who brought a stun gun to school. His mother gave him the stun gun to protect himself against bullies — and the community is vocally protesting his expulsion.
  • A New Jersey principal wants parents to ban Facebook, saying that middle school students are not “socially and emotionally ready to understand” the impact of mean words posted online.
  • Students in one West Virginia county have posted Facebook threats against the school three times in one month. While educators discipline students who post threats, at least one parent has blocked her daughter from using Facebook and Twitter.