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Safety Law News for April 8, 2022

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— In Michigan, the United States Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court denial of qualified immunity for two school resource officers.  A student filed a lawsuit asserting a violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment when the officers used excessive force to forcibly remove the student from the school building.  The court held that the “use of force was unreasonable in violation of the Fourth Amendment. (The student) was not suspected of any serious crime, was not posing a threat at the time he was struck and was not resisting arrest.”  The 14-year old student was reentering the school after school ended to retrieve personal property.  E.W. v. Detroit Public School District

— In Kentucky, Owensboro Police Department school resource officers in the school district’s middle and high schools carry Narcan as part of their safety protocol. Officers in the Daviess County Public Schools Police Department are also being equipped with Narcan for use if they need to resuscitate a student or a staff member having a reaction to opioids.

— In Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Attorney General released a Report on school safety detailing the sharp increase in reports of potential violence in schools made to the statewide tips system Safe2Say Something PA.  Staff in the Attorney General’s office analyze the tips and report safety concerns to local school districts and the 911 center.

— In Nevada, the Clark County School District removed the principal of a high school because the school was not safe.  Desert Oasis High School was experiencing serious incidents that placed students at risk of harm, including a student arrested with a gun on campus, multiple fights, and two consecutive days where the school was placed on lockdown.

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Safety Law News for April 4, 2022

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— In Iowa, the United States District Court ruled that a school that failed to have a Title IX policy in place such that campus administrators did not know who was responsible for Title IX compliance and did not understand all that a Title IX investigation entailed, could be liable in money damages for the sexual assault of a student.  The school held its Title IX training subsequent to the assault.  Under these circumstances, the court held that, “a reasonable jury could find defendant’s failure to train was a conscious choice and was deliberately indifferent to the rights of students.”  Nissen v. Cedar Falls Community School District

— In Illinois, the legislature approved House Bill 4994 (HB 4994) with the expectation that the Governor will enact its provisions.  The primary purpose of the law is to identify the school districts that fail to comply with the state school threat assessment law.  Schools must now develop a threat assessment team and a threat assessment protocol that targets school violence and prevention.  The threat assessment team must include mental health professionals as well as representatives from state, county and local law enforcement agencies.

— In Washington, officials at the Spokane Police Department are disclosing a history of police reports that show that Spokane Public Schools respond inconsistently to campus safety incidents. The police chief sent a letter to school officials on the matter.  In the wake of evidence of reticence by educators to inform police of incidents that place students at risk of harm, the FBI has announced its intentions to investigate the failure of the school district to comply with its reporting obligations.

— In Washington, D.C., the Mayor’s 2023 budget calls for keeping police officers in schools, setting up another clash with the D.C. Council, which voted last year to phase out police in school buildings despite strong opposition from the mayor’s administration.

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Safety Law News for April 1, 2022

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— In Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled on appeal that a school district’s decision to expel a public high school student, based on his act of posting violent song lyrics to social media, outside of school hours and while not on school property, violated his free speech rights.  Educators concluded that the student’s speech constituted harassment, was a terroristic threat, and had disrupted the school environment.  The court ruled that the student, “did not explicitly target specific …students, let alone the broader School District community…. [such that] where a student’s properly contextualized, off-campus speech is not distinctly connected to school activities or clearly directed towards members of their educational community, a public school’s reach exceeds its constitutional grasp.”  Appeal of G.S. by & through Snyder

— In Wisconsin, students from La Crosse Central High School are planning to speak to the School District of La Crosse’s Board of Education.  Their mission is to present a petition and give board members the students’ support of school resource officers (SRO’s). This movement started over a month ago when the students learned of the District’s plan to reduce the number of officers next year.

— In Michigan, the School Safety Task Force, created by the legislature after the deadly shooting at Oxford High School late 2021, has published preliminary recommendations on school safety.  The Task Force wants schools to remove immediate threats to classrooms sooner.  This end will be served by improving communication among schools, local law enforcement, and the state’s OK2Say tip line, requiring ongoing safety training for school resource officers and other school staff, and adding a staff member in each district to oversee mental health services, security, and threat assessment.

— In New York, the Schenectady City School Board passed a resolution for the return of school resource officers (“community engagement officers”) to the schools.  “The school board said it has participated in a school resource officer pilot program in the past, and it has worked out well.”

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Safety Law News for March 23, 2022

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— In Michigan, the United States Court of Appeals, affirmed the denial of qualified immunity to an administrator and a school resource officer in an excessive force lawsuit brought by a high school student.  The student was forcibly removed from the school while attempting to reenter the building after school, dislocating and breaking his jaw. The court held that, “(the) use of force was unreasonable in violation of the Fourth Amendment. (The student) was not suspected of any serious crime, was not posing a threat at the time he was struck and was not resisting arrest. On those facts, (the officer’s) striking (the student) with such force as to break his jaw is gratuitous violence amounting to unreasonably excessive force under the Fourth Amendment…To be sure, school “administrators” have a “substantial interest in maintaining discipline in the classroom and on school grounds…(but the administrator) used an excessive amount of force to accomplish his interest.” E.W. v. Detroit Public School District

— A study by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that during the pandemic, rates of violence and aggression against K-12 school personnel were high, despite most schools being remote during the survey. A third of teachers surveyed reported they experienced at least one incident of verbal and/or threatening violence from students during COVID. Those incidents included verbal threats, cyber bullying, intimidation, and sexual harassment. More than two in five school administrators reported verbal or threatening violence from parents during the pandemic.

— In Ohio, teachers in the state are speaking out against a bill that would allow schools to more easily arm teachers in school.  In the proposed legislation (HB 99), teachers and staff would have to undergo 20 hours of training, plus four additional hours each year, 35 times less than the peace officer training requirement.

— In Michigan, state lawmakers are considering a school safety program that would put gunpowder-sniffing detection dogs into high schools around the state.  If a pilot program is successful, then officials would extend the program to every Michigan high school.  Each dog and trainer costs $80,000 per year for a school district.

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Safety Laws News for March 18, 2022

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— In Texas, the Court of Appeals of Texas, ruled that school districts in the state did not have to comply with the executive order of the Governor which prohibited local governmental entities and officials from requiring face coverings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The court acknowledged that the provisions of state law, e.g., The Texas Disaster Act, strengthened the role of the governor in the case of a disaster.  But the court ruled that the provisions of the law did not includes the authority to prohibit local governmental entities and officials from implementing COVID-19 mitigation measures that the Governor views as more restrictive than necessary, such as face-covering requirements.  Greg Abbott v. La Joya Independent School District

— In Kentucky, House Bill 63 is moving through the legislature to provide incentives for schools to create school resource officer programs.  Under the provisions of the legislation, school districts would have authority to create their own campus police departments.  The proposal also includes a reporting plan from schools to the Kentucky School Safety Center in Richmond.

— In New York, the Superintendent for the Buffalo Public Schools is implementing plans to improve safety in the wake of violence that has occurred in schools.  The provisions of the plan include giving each building in the district its own emergency response plan, the use of metal detectors, and an increase in the number of school resource officers.  “(T)he district only has 10 school resource officers. The district’s new safety plan includes hiring 40 school security officers, and interviews have begun.” 

— In Kansas, the successful implementation of a school safety plan resulted in the prevention of a crisis.  A police affidavit released by the Olathe, Kansas Police Department says that a student at Olathe East High School began shooting after an administrator and school resource officer demanded to search his backpack because of rumors the student had a gun.  The student fired five shots toward the school resource before he was shot by the officer and subdued by the assistant principal.

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Safety Law News for March 14, 2022

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— In Colorado, Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that a school resource officer violated the rights of a student by seizing and searching the student after receiving a tip that the student had been seen firing a gun in a social media video.  The court ruled that the anonymous tips about potential school safety concerns, “(were) insufficient to provide reasonable suspicion to justify (the) search of defendant’s backpack, which produced marijuana and drug paraphernalia.”  The court rejected the argument of the school that the student had a history of misbehavior and of bringing drugs to school, ruling that the “school officer must have a particularized and objective basis for suspecting (a gun).”  People In Int. of C.C-S.

— In New York,  officials in Buffalo are revising their school safety policies in the wake of a spate of incidents.  The teachers’ union is criticizing recent school discipline reforms, reporting that, “it’s unacceptable that we’re letting the small minority of students commit these violent acts.”  A 14-year-old female student attacked a teacher, two elementary students were involved in a stabbing assault, and violent incidents occurred at the high school involving guns.  The teachers union issued a vote of no-confidence in the Buffalo Public Schools superintendent, citing the safety concerns.  The superintendent resigned.

— In Mississippi, the Mississippi Department of Education has announced that 135 school districts have chosen to receive the new health, school safety platform, “nSide health.”  The web-based platform provides surveillance cameras, programming for a 360-degree live, virtual walkthrough of a school to provide situational awareness in emergencies, a mobile app for notification of emergencies and to notify staff and emergency responders, and assistance with creating and managing emergency operations.

— In Texas, official for the DeSoto ISD cancelled classes to reevaluate school safety policies after a violence involving a substitute teacher and a student.  School officials have announced that when students return, every school will have staff monitoring hallways and common areas, employees with the district’s student support services department will now move from district headquarters to campuses to provide faster response, and students will not be allowed to use cell phones, earbuds and headphones during the school day.