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Safety Law News for October 25, 2022

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— In California, the California Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by parents whose child was abused by a teacher, holding that school liability does not require proving that the school had actual knowledge of the abuse.  The court ruled that the standard in education law is more rigorous than the standard applied in lawsuits involving other government officials.  In schools, a constructive knowledge standard controls, in which “a public school district may be vicariously liable …for the negligence of administrators or supervisors in hiring, supervising and retaining a school employee who sexually harasses and abuses a student.”  Because of its rigor, “constructive knowledge is knowledge that may be shown by circumstantial evidence which is nothing more than one or more inferences which may be said to arise reasonably from a series of proven facts.”  Roe v Hesperia Unified School District

— In Illinois, officials in the Macomb School District are seeing a noticeable difference in student behavior after deploying a second school resource officer.  Instances of bullying, students insubordination (entering and leaving classrooms without permission) have ceased.  No arrests have been made this school year.  The new officer also teaches Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) classes in the schools.

— In Indiana, more school districts are creating police departments as a means to ensure school safety.  The  school district police department is overseen by the school board and the superintendent rather than being overseen by a municipal body of government.   Also, the sole focus of the officer in a school police department is the school campus rather than the community at-large.

— In Virginia, the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors are requiring an eight-hour course on crisis management for school-based emergency incidents. The course is designed for school administrators, law enforcement, school resource officers and emergency management professionals.  It goal is to enhance student safety and emergency response preparedness.

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Safety Law News for October 20, 2022

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— 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.

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Safety Law News for October 12, 2022

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— 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.

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Safety Law News for October 7, 2022

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— 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.

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Safety Law News for September 30, 2022

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— 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.

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Safety Law News for September 27, 2022

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— 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.