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Safety Law News for June 6, 2022

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— In California, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the order of wardship of a 13 year-old student who was found with a gun in his backpack at school.  The appellate court agreed with the student that under California law there is a presumption of incapacity for children under 14, such that it must be shown by “clear and convincing evidence that the child appreciated the wrongfulness of the conduct when it was committed.”  But the appellate court found that “the fact that (the student) apparently revealed his possession of the firearm to another student but then denied possessing it to the school safety officer only reinforces the inference that (the student) understood the wrongfulness of his actions.”  People v. L.S., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court.

— In California, teachers and parents in the Fresno Unified School District are calling for increased safety measures.  Restorative justice discipline reforms are the target of the criticisms.  Parents waited for five hours at a school board meeting to get the chance to tell trustees and district officials what they want to see change at their kids’ schools.  The Fresno Teacher Association posted a letter on Facebook, citing frustration that teachers are not, “made aware of (students’) violent tendencies.”  The letter concludes that, “(w)e have only your broad words of assurances without any concrete evidence that anything is being done to improve our school’s safety. It is time for a change so we can stop feeling like we are on our own.”

— In Texas, the Governor is directing state school security and education officials to start conducting “in-person, unannounced, random intruder detection audits on school districts” to find weak access points and see how quickly staff can enter a school building without being stopped.  The order comes after the Uvalde school shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead.  The Governor is asking the legislature to convene a pair of special legislative committees to address the issues of school safety.

— In Florida, Clay County officials want to keep the property tax for school safety.  The property tax increase, passed in 2018 for 4 years only after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus shooting, is set to expire. The school district used the additional funds to create its own school police force, putting an officer at every school. County voters will decide.

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Safety Law News for June 1, 2022

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— In Illinois, the Appellate Court of Illinois reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded for trial a lawsuit brought by parents of a 10-year-old whose fingers were amputated by a roller gate fence at the elementary school playground.  The lower court ruled that the roller gate fence was an open and obvious danger to a 10-year-old child such that educators had no duty to protect the student.  The appellate court disagreed, ruling that whether a dangerous condition is open and obvious is a question of fact to be decided at trial.  It stated that, “when considering whether a danger is open and obvious to a reasonable child of similar age and experience, it is not just the physical instrument or landscape at issue, but also the way a child intends to interact with them.”  Therefore, dismissal was improper because, “a jury might reasonably find that (the student’s) failure to appreciate the risks associated with the instant roller gate fence was typical for a child of similar age and experience.”  Wright v. Waukegan Community Unit School District 60

— In Texas, school officials in rural Medina County are asking the Commissioners Court to consider funding six school resource officers for each school district in the county.  They are also considering arming staff members to solve the delay problem in receiving police assistance in an active shooter incident.

— In Kansas, officials in Saint George are placing greater emphasis on its Rapid Response and Deployment Policy 411.  The policy reinforces the jurisdiction’s commitment to protect children by requiring “officers (to) take immediate action, if reasonably practicable while requesting additional assistance” in a school shooting… “(rather than) wait for additional resources to arrive at the scene before they hunt down and eliminate any threat posed to children.”

— In Indiana, House Bill 1093 has been enacted.  It requires all school resource officers to receive specific training by next summer, eliminating a gap in the previous law that allowed untrained officers to patrol schools. 

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Safety Law News for May 24, 2022

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— In California, the United States District Court upheld the decision of school officials to deny a student the opportunity to walk at his graduation ceremony as a result of his online behavior.  The student, while on the school’s campus and during school hours, posted to his personal Internet page a picture of another classmate with the caption “nig—.”  The court agreed with the disciplined student that, “the government cannot prohibit or penalize the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”  But, the court dismissed the case, ruling that, “(s)chools must achieve a balance between protecting the safety and well-being of their students and respecting those same students’ constitutional rights.”  Applying the standard of Tinker v. Des Moines School District, the court held that, “plaintiff’s speech occurred on campus and at least the right of one individual student to be secure and to be let alone was interfered with by plaintiff.”  Castro v. Clovis Unified School District

— In Wisconsin, the La Crosse School District announced a change in its school resource officer policy.  It will keep police on campus through the 2022-23 school year.  School officials intend to continue recent reforms in light of positive data on campus conditions, e.g., lower arrest and suspension rates, new social justice and mental health programs.

— In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a report in which school safety is cited as an area in need of “immediate improvement.”  Stopping short of recommending a takeover of the school district by the state, the Report states that the problems involving school safety and data reporting “are abundantly clear.”

— In North Carolina, the North Carolina Safer Schools Task Force is placing greater emphasis on gun violence, gun education, and gun prevention.  The task force is composed of students, teachers, parents, education leaders, law enforcement, and staff from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.  Its new program, “Educating Kids on Gang and Gun Violence,” will launch during the 2022-23 school year with the help of school resource officers.

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Safety Law News for May 20, 2022

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— In Tennessee, the United States Court of Appeals reversed dismissals of cases brought under Title IX by two students for student-on-student sexual harassment.  In separate incidents at different schools the students were assaulted, video-taped, and made to experience a hostile environment when the videos were published.  The court agreed that the students established that their unwelcome sexual contact was a result of the school district’s indifference to pervasive sexual misconduct in the schools, e.g., school disciplinary records revealed over 1200 instances of inappropriate sexual behavior over a four-year period, in which administrators violated Title IX by handling the incidents internally instead of referring them to the Title IX coordinator.  Therefore, before the assaults, “the school had actual knowledge of some actionable sexual harassment and that the school’s deliberate indifference to it resulted in further actionable harassment of the student-victim(s).”  Doe on behalf of Doe #2 v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County

— In Ohio, House Bill 501, if enacted, would authorize school boards to levy property tax “for the specific purpose of funding school resource officers for school districts located within their territory.”  This policy puts the decision of whether or not to have a school resource officer up to the voters in each school district.

— In California, officials in the Garden Grove Unified School District are modifying their school safety program to include a component to provide social-emotional support for students.  Administrators and local police are bringing trained support dogs onto campuses to help students facing stress or trauma.  The dogs, “have been trained to provide support despite chaotic environments and to remain calm and supportive to strangers, without barking or becoming aggressive.”

— In Colorado, House Bill 1376, passed by the legislature, addresses several school safety policy shifts.  First, the legislation bans handcuffing students, creating a working group to develop rules for when seclusion and restraint need to be reported.  Second, its provisions require schools to notify parents promptly when they restrain students.  Third, schools will be required to report publicly on aspects of student discipline, e.g., by race, ethnicity, and disability.  Fourth, the state police oversight board is authorized to create new standards for school police selection, training, and supervision

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Safety Law News for May 18, 2022

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— In California, the California Court of Appeal, held that the pre-season sports release/waiver, signed by a student and his parents, expressly barred the student from recovering for injuries in a school sponsored football game.  The court reasoned that the release/waiver, where the student both assumed the risk of injury and waived any liability, should be given effect.  The court agreed that the student could avoid the release/waiver by proving that the school was grossly negligent.  But “[the] evidence…showed [educators] were not grossly negligent.”  Brown v. El Dorado Union High School District

— In New Mexico, the Las Cruces Public School District announced plans to prevent cannabis products from getting onto its campuses after school officials and school resource officers from the Las Cruces Police Department have confiscated numerous packages that resemble popular snacks but are infused with THC.  The schools will collaborate with a Crime Stoppers Campus Chapter to supply the details of a policy in which students caught with cannabis products will face suspension and a misdemeanor arrest.

— In Maryland, officials in Baltimore County are discussing with students and parents how to  strengthen its student discipline policy.  The current policy constrains discipline based on the implementation of tolerant restorative justice principles.  The NAACP is pushing for more accountability.  County officials are proposing four new Student Resource Officers float among schools.

— In Wisconsin, students and parents from the La Crosse School District are protesting the removal of School Resource Officers (SROs) from the district.   The La Crosse School board has reduced the number of SROs in the district from five to three. It plans on further reducing that number to two by July 1.  The students presented a petition to the school board with over 300 signatures to keep the police officers in school.