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Safety Law News for September 1, 2022

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— In Mississippi, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi reversed a ruling in favor of a student who was injured at school, playing tag as he waited on his school bus.  The court reversed the lower court because even though state law imposes on schools “a ministerial duty to use ordinary care and to take reasonable steps to minimize foreseeable risks to students thereby providing a safe school environment,…there was no a proximate causal connection between the inadequacy or lack of supervision and the accident.”  Proximate cause requires a finding that the negligence of a school be both the cause in fact and the legal cause of the injury to the student.  Here, the court reversed, declaring that “(the student’s) injury happened suddenly and accidently. Further, (the student’s) injury could not have been foreseen even if more supervision had been present.”  Simpson County School District v Wigley

— In Virginia, the General Assembly approved an additional $45 million over two fiscal years for school safety to pay for new school resource officers and school security officers.  The funding will support 185 positions across 182 schools, including 110 elementary schools, 24 middle schools and 31 high schools.  The top priority will be filling positions at middle and high schools.

— In Arkansas, the legislature enacted a grant program that provides $50 million for school safety.  The Arkansas School Safety Commission, whose report provided guidance for the legislation, will continue assessing school safety in the state.  The Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute and the Arkansas Department of Education will develop rules for the grant.

— In California, officials in the Oakland Unified School District remain resolved to exclude police from their campuses after the shooting of a 13-year-old by a 12-year-old student at a middle school.  Oakland City Councilmembers are divided on whether or not a police presence at schools is a good idea.

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Safety Law News for August 30, 2022

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— In Maryland, the Court of Appeals of Maryland affirmed the denial of a student’s suppression motion involving the search of a backpack and cell phone.  After a school resource officer broke up a fight in which the student was involved, the student’s backpack dropped from his body to the ground. The officer and student reached for the backpack simultaneously; the officer picked it up first. The student then ran from the scene. The officer opened the backpack, finding a firearm, three cell phones, and the student’s school ID card.  The court ruled that the warrantless search of the backpack was permissible because it was abandoned.  The court also ruled that the officers reasonably relied on the warrant in executing the search of the cell phones.  Richardson v. Johnson.

— In Indiana, state officials have approved nearly $23 million in grants to fund school security.  The grants are awarded each year to help districts pay for school resource officers and upgrades like new equipment. This year, 425 schools have been approved to receive these funds.

— In Massachusetts, parents in the Framingham School District are requesting greater transparency in the implementation of the new school security plan.  Under the new agreement with police, city officials promised to (1) alert the community about the details of the agreement, (2) set up a process for submitting complaints about school resource officers, (3) provide data school discipline and arrests, and (4) budget data on the cost of implementation of the agreement.

— In Colorado, educators in the Denver Public Schools are showing returning students a video that recommends that students refrain from reporting campus incidents to police.  The video, which focuses on de-escalation of conflicts involving students, includes a series of recommendations.  One of the tips says to avoid the police because police can escalate, and “often treat victims as perpetrators of crimes.”

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Safety Law News for August 25, 2022

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— In California, the United States District Court refused to dismiss claims of excessive force asserted against two school resource officers who fought with a student while attempting to escort him to the administrative office.  The officers flipped the student from his back onto his stomach, handcuffed him, and took him to the administrative office.  According to one of the officers, “(y)ou turned around and you fronted me like you were going to fight me.”  The court ruled that the elements of excessive force include, “(1) the severity of the crime at issue, (2) whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and (3) whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.”  The court ruled that a reasonable jury could conclude that SROs’ use of force was unjustified.  “(The student) was a thirteen-year-old freshman, almost a foot shorter and 100 pounds lighter …He held a sweater in his hands, while both SRO(s) were armed and in uniform. At all times, (the student) was surrounded by numerous adults, including the SROs and …was walking toward the administrative office in compliance … even though no fight had taken place.”  Silvas v County of Riverside, EDCV192358JGBSHKX, 2022 WL 3574176 (CD Cal July 14, 2022)

— In Idaho, the school resource officers of the Cassia County School District will begin wearing rifle rated body armor.  The body armor, a gift from a fundraiser for school safety, “will handle AR 15 rounds, and even AK 47 rounds.”

— In Kentucky, all public schools are required to have a school resource officer at each school campus.  However, the mandate is unfunded.  As a result, schools are struggling to meet the requirement.

— In Pennsylvania, a comprehensive school safety plan was presented by the Philadelphia School District that creates 27 zones, around high violence middle and high schools, where uniformed officers will be present to help students leave school safely during dismissal.

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Safety Law News for August 16, 2022

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— In Louisiana, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by parents of a child who fell on the playground during recess and broke his leg.  The court agreed that educators “owe a duty of reasonable supervision over students. The supervision required is reasonable, competent supervision appropriate to the age of the children and the attendant circumstances.”  But the court ruled that the parents’ allegation that educators were negligent in their supervision of students during recess must fail because the injury to their child “was neither foreseeable nor preventable absent constant supervision….(and) constant supervision of all students is not possible nor required for educators to discharge their duty to provide adequate supervision.”  Hernandez v Livingston Parish School Board

— In California, officials in the Shasta County School District are increasing safety this upcoming school year in the light of the Uvalde, Texas incident.  Working closely with local law enforcement, educators are looking to improve perimeter safety and threat assessments. They plan to install a new text notification system and bring juvenile probation officers on campus.

— In Texas, as schools begin the fall semester, superintendents say they haven’t seen the $100 million in funding for school safety promised by the state.  Half of the funding is earmarked for providing bullet-resistant shields. Another portion is designated for silent panic alert technology, while smaller portions are to go toward increasing mental health resources for students.

— In Michigan, the Office of School Safety is reporting that more students reached out to a confidential tip line in 2021 to report threats, violent behavior or mental health crises. Up 67% from 2020, the five main categories were “Planned School Attack,” Threats, Bullying, Suicides threats, and “Other” (e.g., anxiety, stress, depression, harassment).

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Safety Law News for August 2, 2022

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— In South Dakota, the United States Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of qualified immunity to a teacher who was sued by parents for restraining and secluding students in a special education program.  The court held the teacher’s habit of placing a student in a 10 feet by 10 feet room for rule breaking, holding the door shut until the student was able to “demonstrate calm behavior and complete several task baskets,” was a seizure.  This permitted the parents to assert a claim based on the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.  The court held that while “an ordinary school timeout is not a Fourth Amendment seizure… dragging students, confining them in locked or barricaded areas, and barring them from leaving on pain of further physical intervention (was) severe enough to implicate the Constitution.”  Applying the reasonableness test of New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985), the court affirmed the denial of both qualified immunity and the teacher’s motion to dismiss the case.  “Because (the teacher) substantially departed from accepted principles when restraining and secluding the students, she violated clearly established federal rights.”  Doe v Aberdeen School District

— In California, a survey by Stride, Inc., is reporting that many parents are concerned about safely sending their children back to their local public school in-person and considering other options.  Over half (52 percent) of parents or guardians with children enrolled in public school would prefer enrolling them in private school.

— In Ohio, the Governor DeWine announced $47 million in grants will be awarded to schools across the state to fund safety-related expenses.  Schools will receive up to $50,000 each in grant funding to help cover safety-related expenses like security cameras, automatic door locks and exterior lighting.  The Governor said that “helping schools pay for important security improvements is just one component of our comprehensive school safety approach that also supports the mental wellbeing of our kids and the work of local law enforcement to prevent crime.”

— In Arkansas, the North Little Rock School District is installing new technology as part of a $726,000 initiative from the district to improve security.  The technology includes weapons detectors that set off an alarm for weapons and large knives, but not for smaller metallic items such as keys.  New video technology will give security guards better real‐time control over the school’s cameras and footage.  New software will screen all visitors and volunteers, conduct background checks and keep track of how long they should be at any given school.

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Safety Law News for July 28, 2022

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— In North Carolina, the United States District Court refused to dismiss the excessive force case of a 7-year old student who was handcuffed by a police officer.  The officer interrupted two educators who were allowing the special needs student to calm down in the school’s “quiet room,” in compliance with their Crisis Prevention Intervention training.  After the student spat at the educators, the officer took over, handcuffing the student on the floor for 38 minutes with his knee in the student’s back. The educators did not intervene in any way. The court held that it was a question for a jury to determine whether the educators breached their duty to protect the student by failing to intervene.  The court also held that the facts met the “truly egregious circumstances” standard for the negligent infliction of emotional distress under state law. Finally the court denied immunity for the officer, finding that “all school resource officers (are) on notice that young children who commit minor offenses should not be handcuffed if they pose no safety threat or flight risk.”  A.G. v Fattaleh

— In Mississippi, the Mississippi Board of Education voted to revise its policy that prohibited anyone other than law enforcement from carrying guns on public school campuses.  As a result of this change, any school district may allow its employees who hold enhanced conceal carry licenses to possess weapons at school.

— In Oklahoma, over 100 resource officers and school administrators from across the state are receiving school safety training hosted by the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.  The participants are being trained on threat assessments, social media threats, active shooter procedures, and best practices toward creating trusting relationships with students.

— In Illinois, school resource officers from the Peoria Public Schools are partnering with the Peoria Police Department to enforce curfews and head off youth violence and other incidents.  Under the agreement, the school officers, who are familiar with many of the youth and their families, will assist the police department in addressing youth violence before it spills over into the schools.