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Safety Law News for January 18, 2023

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— In Rhode Island, the United States District Court granted the request of a student for additional discovery in her lawsuit against school officials and a police officer.  The black female student’s claim arose out of a fight at school with a white female student.  “(T)he school resource officer, … decided to arrest her for disorderly conduct…stat(ing) repeatedly that he needed to “make an example” of her. He insisted that talking to students instead of arresting them “doesn’t work.””  The student was arrested, handcuffed, taken away in the back of a police car.  While the court dismissed the student’s claim on abuse of process for the officer’s desire to “make an example” of her “((it) may have been misguided or even cruel, it was not an improper purpose”), the court agreed that more discovery was required to obtain  “details about other students who have been disciplined after fighting… to properly develop comparators.”  T.J. by and through Johnson v. Rose

— In Michigan, the Governor announced that new funding will be earmarked to provide school resource officers for schools across the state.  Over the next three years, educators will have access to $25 million.  Nearly 200 school districts, intermediate school districts and public-school academics are receiving the grants.

— In Illinois, the Pulaski County School Board has created a School Security Committee, whose primary role is to meet periodically to evaluate plans related to improving school safety and security in its schools.  The committee will also serve as an advisory board on security issues and make recommendations on capital projects that will improve school security and safety on each campus.

— In Tennessee, Williamson County are partnering school resource officers with a therapy dog.  The canine will go from school to school, trained to work with special needs students and students who are having a difficult day.

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Safety Law News for January 13, 2023

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— In New York, the United States District Court, refused to dismiss a teacher’s lawsuit against a school district for a hostile work environment and retaliation.  The teacher constantly reported threats and derogatory comments on basis of teacher’s Jewish religion and white race from a fourth-grade student.  The court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as well as provisions of New York law precluded dismissal of the teacher’s lawsuit.  “The question of whether school officials took appropriate remedial action is a question of fact, not law…If harassment continues after complaints are made, reasonable jurors may disagree about whether an employer’s response was adequate.”  Ringel v. New York City Department of Education, 19CV2374DGTAM, 2022 WL 17495081 (EDNY 2022)

— In Virginia, officials in the Albemarle County Public Schools are now considering the return of police on their campuses.  The school board previously eliminated police and replaced them with civilian non-sworn student safety coaches.  Now educators are reporting that “the safety coaches have not been satisfactory for some parents who point to social media posts saying that things have ‘gotten out of hand,’ especially at the high school level.”

— In Oregon, in the wake of a surge in shootings outside Portland high schools, more than a dozen education, civic and public safety leaders are discussing new policies to protect students.  The superintendent wants to see increased police presence around all district schools.  The school board removed police from all schools in June of 2020. 

— Nationally, data released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, reveals that only 24% of public schools feel ‘very prepared’ for active shooters on campus.  Schools experienced 302 school shootings in 2022, compared to 250 in 2021.

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Safety Law News for January 9, 2023

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— In Ohio, the Supreme Court of Ohio resolved a split among the lower courts on school immunity to hold that schools are not immune for injuries “caused by the negligence of their employees and that occurs within or on the grounds of, and is due to physical defects within or on the grounds of, buildings that are used in connection with the performance of a governmental function.”  This language, taken from the provisions of the state immunity law, was held to defeat immunity of a school that failed to have a fire extinguisher or other safety equipment in a classroom.  Two students were severely burned after a bottle of isopropyl alcohol caught fire and exploded in a science class.  The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the trial court’s denial of the school’s motion to dismiss.  Doe v Greenville City Schools

— In Maryland, officials in St. Mary’s County are expanding the school resource officer program into the elementary schools.  The new officer will patrol the 19 public elementary schools on a rotating basis.  The Sheriff’s Office also intends to continue its Adopt-A-School program, where deputies volunteer to check on a specific elementary school during their regular duties.

— In Pennsylvania, the Mahanoy Area School District is creating its own school police department.  The Mahanoy Area School District Police Department will be a dedicated police unit that serves all law enforcement needs in the school district on a full-time basis.  This will resolve campus safety issues that were caused by staffing shortages in the Mahanoy City Police Department, which resulted in schools lacking a police presence on certain days.

— In New York, the  Rochester Board of Education are bringing back police to its campuses after another shooting on a high school campus.  The officers, from the Rochester Police Department, will only monitor school arrivals and dismissals.  The school board is reluctant to reinstate the full school resource officer program after terminating it in 2020. 

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Safety Law News for January 6, 2023

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— In Florida, the United States Court of Appeals held that school officials’ policy of separating school bathrooms based on biological sex did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment nor did it violate the statutory requirements of Title IX.  The court reasoned that (1) educators were responsible for providing “proper attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the welfare of students” within the school district; (2) The protection of students’ privacy interests in using the bathroom away from the opposite sex and in shielding their bodies from the opposite sex was an obvious and important governmental objective; (3) the bathroom policy was substantially related to that objective; and (4) Title IX’s general prohibition on sex discrimination provides “an express carve-out with respect to living facilities: “nothing contained [in Chapter 38] shall be construed to prohibit any educational institution receiving funds under this Act, from maintaining separate living facilities for the different sexes.””  Adams by and through Kasper v School Board of St. Johns County

— In Kansas, all employees in the Blue Valley School District wear emergency alert buttons.  The “CrisisAlert badge” equips them to press the button three times to alert administrators, school resource officers, and school nurses to an emergency.  An entire school can go on lockdown with just eight button presses.

— In Indiana, the Muncie Community Schools will now conduct its own background checks on school security guards.  The school district has a contract with a private security company, Legacy Life Security Solutions, to provide guards.  However, a guard was recently charged with intimidation where the defendant draws a deadly weapon, two counts of dealing marijuana with a prior drug conviction, as well as driving while suspended with a prior conviction.

— In Indiana, officials in Austin are changing school district policy after a kidnapping incident on the playground of one of its schools.  A woman, unrelated to any child on the playground, went over the playground’s fence and picked up a child. School resource officers will act as monitors when students are outside.

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Safety Law News for January 4, 2023

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— In New Jersey, the United States District Court refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a student who alleged discrimination and a hostile environment when school officials failed to intervene despite multiple incidents of race-based harassment.  The court ruled that Title VI, provides a federal right to sue a school, “for its failure to address a racially hostile environment (that is) severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive (when) the school acts with deliberate indifference.”  The court noted that, “(t)he fact that (the student) was called the “n-word” is, in and of itself, likely sufficient to withstand summary judgment.”   Dismissal of the lawsuit was inappropriate because, “a jury could determine that the District failed to properly respond and/or engaged in a form of tacit acceptance by delaying an investigation into the “n-word” incident.”  N.U. v. Mansfield Township School District

— In Ohio, officials for the Dayton Public Schools are revising policies for school sponsored events after two athletic games had fights break out among students in December, one of which escalated into gunfire.  Elements of the new policy will require all spectators to have their bags checked as well as walk through metal detectors before entering an event.  More police will also be deployed at the events.

— In Alabama, a new law now allows gun owners to carry a concealed firearm without a permit.  This will allow a person to carry a loaded weapon under their clothes, in a bag, or in their vehicle.  There are 23 states that allow concealed weapons in public without a permit. 

— In Rhode Island, the General Assembly is placing special emphasis on school safety as it begins its legislative session.  Leaders of both parties said that they are concerned about educational outcomes, the state of school buildings and safety issues.  The legislators will discuss adding more school resource officers.

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Safety Law News for January 3, 2023

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— In California, the United States Court of Appeals ruled that school officials did not violate the First Amendment rights of students for discipling them for off-campus Internet posts that amounted to “severe bullying or harassment targeting particular classmates.”  The Instagram posts, “ranged from immature posts making fun of a student’s braces, glasses, or weight to much more disturbing posts that targeted vicious invective with racist and violent themes against specific Black classmates.”  The court upheld the decision of the lower court that the “speech bore a sufficient nexus to (the school) to warrant disciplinary action by the school.”  The recent U.S. Supreme Court case, Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B.L. ex rel. Levy, did not give the students immunity for their off-campus speech because, “once (the) posts hit their targets, the school was confronted with a situation in which a number of its students thereby became the subjects of serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals—which Mahanoy specifically identifies as an “off-campus circumstance in which the school’s regulatory interests remain significant.”  Chen Through Chen v Albany Unified School District

— In Oregon, officials in Portland are in initial talks to return police to public school campuses after a third shooting outside a school in two months. The City removed police in 2020 as protests and riots raged across the country in support of defunding the police following the killing of George Floyd. 

— In Virginia, the push for increasing school safety is leading to more police officers on campus.  Governor Youngkin is placing emphasis on having a law enforcement officer in every public school.  The Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety is conducting training that recent legislation makes mandatory for all Virginia school resource officers school security officers. 

— In Maine, critical staffing needs in the City is causing the removal of police on school campuses.  All school resource officers have been reassigned to patrol duty.  If a police officer is needed at the school, staff will need to call 9-1-1.