Uncategorized

Safety Law News for October 20, 2022

by  • 

— In Maryland, the Court of Appeals of Maryland ruled that the Federal Coverdell Act did not preempt a lawsuit brought by parents against a school in response to bullying and physical attacks on their child.  The court held that the Coverdell Act, which “provides teachers with protection from being liable for money damages for the harm they cause through negligent acts,” does not prevent Maryland from enforcing its policy that makes the county school board liable “for the acts or omissions of its employees.”  Gambrill v Board of Education of Dorchester County.

— In Michigan,  school resource officers across the state are shifting from DARE to TEAM.  In more than 250 school districts the officers are receiving the four-day TEAM training, a school-based, law-related curriculum, from the Michigan State Police.  The Teaching, Educating and Mentoring School Liaison Program (TEAM) differs from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program by reaching students in grades K-12 on topics like personal safety, how to reach emergency services, bullying, social media use, vaping, and dating violence.

— In Georgia, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office is assigning three deputies to mobile patrols that will primarily focus on safety at the county’s 20 elementary schools. Unlike the middle school and high school, police have not been deployed on elementary campuses on a full-time basis.  The roving SROs will conduct routine patrols.

— In Florida, an audit of the Santa Rosa County School District found several failures by the board and superintendent affecting school safety.  School resource officers were not trained properly on mental health crisis intervention. Students were not getting specialized training in mental health as required by a special grant.  Student records privacy issues, previously cited, were not yet resolved.

Uncategorized

Safety Law News for October 12, 2022

by  • 

— In Iowa, the United States District Court refused to issue an injunction requested by parents who oppose the policies of the Linn-Mar Community School District regarding the treatment of transgender and gender-nonconforming students.  The parents argued that the policies, which include providing gender identity supports, record confidentiality, and name and pronoun acknowledgement, would deny their constitutional rights to child-rearing and their First Amendment rights to free speech.  The court disagreed, finding that an injunction would “block students from any protection from harassment and bullying on the basis of gender identity and would prevent the school from disciplining such harassment and bullying,” as it is required to do under current state and federal civil rights laws.  Parents Defending Education v Linn-Mar Community School District

— In West Virginia, the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security is beginning to implement the West Virginia School Safety Initiative.  The funded program is designed to provide research-based resources for schools to create uniform crisis prevention and response protocols.  The School Safety Initiative is organized into three broad categories: detection and prevention, response during a crisis, and post-crisis response.

— In Arkansas, the legislature approved a $50 million grant program during a special session to address school safety.  The Arkansas School Safety Commission will issue a report, containing policy priorities that school districts will use when making requests for funding.  So far, the commission has identified five issues: mental health and prevention; law enforcement and security; audits, emergency operations plans and drills; physical security; and intelligence and communication.

— In Virginia, a new grant is providing Greene County Public Schools with three new school resource officers. The superintendent says, “our resource officers are incredibly helpful.”  Currently, only three schools in the district have school resource officers.  The grant will provide SROs for the remaining schools.

Uncategorized

Safety Law News for October 7, 2022

by  • 

— In Florida, the United States Court of Appeals denied qualified immunity to a school resource officer who, while intervening in a argument between a student and his mother, grabbed the student’s face, shoved him in the chest, and threw him to the ground using an “armbar” technique, holding him down for over three minutes.  The lower court had ruled that the SRO had probable cause to arrest the student for pushing his mother and, therefore, had qualified immunity as to the false arrest, battery, and excessive force claims.  The appellate court held that as to the excessive force and battery claims “unprovoked force against a non-hostile and non-violent suspect who has not disobeyed instructions violates that suspect’s rights under the Fourth Amendment.”  The appellate court also held that, the SRO’s “decision to start the physical confrontation was unrelated to any law enforcement need to restrain or arrest (the student).”  Richmond v Badia.

— In Alabama, officials in Daphne are confiscating more electronic vapes and e-cigarettes brought to campus by students.  The devices often contain drugs rather than nicotine.  The police are beginning to arrest students who possess the devices containing THC.

— In Tennessee, the Governor signed an Executive Order to promote school safety.  Elements of the Order include, An increase in periodic audits of Tennessee local school security assessments and school safety plans, additional training for school personnel, and more frequent visits of school campuses by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

— In Wisconsin, the Wauwatosa School Board met with parents to discuss the role of police officers in schools after an increase in violence.  There were several fights and acts of violence throughout the district, prompting a two-hour discussion of how police officers will act to quell violence.

Uncategorized

Safety Law News for September 30, 2022

by  • 

— In Michigan, the United States District Court, ruled that an Instagram account created off-campus by a student, that targeted, threatened, and harassed specific teachers and a student, was not protected speech.  The court, in upholding the school discipline of a ten-day suspension for his involvement in setting up the Instagram account to impersonate a teacher, held that the suspended student knew that the site functioned as a platform through which other students made harassing posts. The court also found that the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. ex rel. Levy, 141 S.Ct. 2038, 2044 (2021), did not protect the student because, “the Mahanoy court listed several types of off-campus behavior that may call for school regulation, including serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals and threats aimed at teachers or other students.”  Kutchinski v. Freeland Community School District

— In Texas, families of survivors from the May 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting filed a civil lawsuit against law enforcement officials and the Uvalde school district.  The lawsuit accuses the officials and the gun manufacturers and sellers of significant failures and negligence that enabled the gunman to carry out the shooting.  It seeks unspecified damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress.  Other families are beginning to protest outside the school district’s headquarters demanding accountability and an investigation into the incident.

— In Massachusetts, school resource officers from the Seekonk Police Department are deploying a Labrador as a comfort dog.  The policy of providing students with frequent encounters with comfort dogs is spreading across school districts.  Often called “therapy dogs,”  the canines assist students who have anxiety, who have experienced trauma, or who have other special needs. 

— In Connecticut, officials in Westport are collaborating with local organizations to set up a voluntary registry for family and friends of people with mental health challenges, such as schizophrenia, who may panic or seem violent when approached by police. The registry allows relatives or friends to flag anyone who might benefit from additional support — and provide information about how to best de-escalate any situations with them.  Police officers are officers are receiving training focusing on dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Uncategorized

Safety Law News for September 27, 2022

by  • 

— In California, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by parents whose children were in a school classroom when the husband of the teacher entered the room, shot and killed his wife, a student, and himself in front of the class.  The court agreed with the school district that these actions were unforeseeable.  Therefore, although schools have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect students, the school’s safety requirements,  including registration requirements for school visitors who are considered outsiders, and other aspects of visitor/outsider access to school grounds, played no role in the incident from which liability could be based.  C.I. v. San Bernardino City Unified School District

— In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of School Safety released the 2021-2022 Annual Report for Speak Up, Speak Out, a statewide confidential reporting system.  The platform is designed to allow students, school staff, and community members to share information concerning potential school violence.  The Report reports a15.2% percent increase in tips, receiving 136 potentially life-saving tips.  Bullying and suicide threats were the two most reported tips.

— In Iowa, the Lewis Central Community School District Board of Education voted to tighten its policies on tobacco and e-cigarettes on school grounds.  Under the new policy, students found in possession of tobacco or vapes will be referred to the police.  Previously, schools were confiscating vapes and tobacco from students and imposing school discipline.

— In Indiana, officials in rural Shelby County school district will arm its staff with guns under a new school safety response team.  Staff members who volunteer will receive training and firearms.

Uncategorized

Safety Law News for September 22, 2022

by  • 

— In New York, the United States Court of Appeals, held that a school bus driver’s ongoing debate with his colleagues about the best way to report maintenance issues involving school buses involved internal communications rather than citizen speech, and thus his statements were not protected by First Amendment.  The court upheld the termination of his employment, stating that, “reporting policies, even when discussed in the context of union negotiations, generally fall into the category of workplace and union operations, which we have declined to treat as matters of public concern.”  The bus driver preferred a daily reporting procedure until safety issues were corrected.  The mechanics and other officials favored the existing procedure that required safety issues to be reported one time, a practice that the bus driver believed permitted unsafe buses to be out on the road.  Shara v. Maine-Endwell Central School District

— In Wisconsin, the Wauwatosa School Board reaffirmed its commitment to its school resource officers after a rise of violent incidents, mainly at after school activities.  In a note to the parents school officials gave notice that “given the intensity and frequency of recent incidents, we will immediately implement the most significant penalties available to us…for students that choose to engage in fights.”

— In Nebraska, officials in the Beatrice Public Schools are conducting training on what parents should do during school emergencies.  The training focused on emergencies such as school shootings, providing the parents with a summary of the problems schools experienced in incidents in other states.  Topics included communication, safety drills, as well as answering parents’ questions on school crisis response policies.

— In Kentucky, public schools districts are experiencing difficulty complying with the requirement to deploy a police officer on each campus.  The mandate, enacted in 2022, provides no funding.  Schools are having difficulty finding, paying, and training officers in sufficient number to comply with the mandate.  The Kentucky State School Security Marshal is helping educators find school resource officers.