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Safety Law News for October 15, 2021

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— In South Carolina, the United States District Court ruled that the “Disturbing Schools” statute was unconstitutionally vague as applied to elementary and secondary school students in the state.  The provisions of the law criminalized, in part, a person who gathers on campus, “in a grossly intoxicated condition or otherwise conducting himself in a disorderly or boisterous manner.” Section 16-17-530.  The court held that many of the behaviors criminalized by the law are behavioral issues under school codes of conduct rather than criminal acts.  Therefore, the law was unconstitutional because of the absence of objective criteria resulted in discriminatory enforcement in the schools.  Kenny v. Wilson

— In Virginia,  the Alexandria City Council reinstated the school resource officer program, granting the demands of teachers, administrators, and parents to quell campus violence.  One school administrator told the City Council, “(o)ur students are sending us warning shots, literally warning shots… My staff, my students. We’re not okay.”

— In North Carolina, officials in Onslow County are considering installing metal detectors at all school entrances after two school shootings in the state this school year.

— In Wisconsin, educators in Madison have created the Office of School Safety to coordinate a critical response team of school psychologists, social workers, teachers and administrators.  The school resource officer program was eliminated in 2020.  The new program is combining student safety and emotional health.

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Safety Law News for October 12, 2021

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— In California, the United States District Court refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by parents of a student whose suicide attempt was in response to school bullying.  The court ruled that the bullying incidents involved “a duty to (the student)…and a reasonable jury could conceivably find (the student) was severely bullied for an extended period of time at her school, with the full knowledge of administrators who had the power to discipline (the) bully, offer mental health support to (the student), and change the two students’ class schedules so no longer had class together—and instead these administrators chose to do nothing.” Jane Roe v. Rialto Unified School District et al; No. EDCV19863JGBSPX, 2021 WL 4571994 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2021)

— Nationally, according to data reported by Everytown for Gun Safety, the school year 2021 has been one of the deadliest for students across the nation as counts of gun violence in schools exceeds figures from prior years.  From Aug. 1 to Sept. 15, there have been 30 instances of gunfire on school grounds, killing five and wounding 23.

— In Virginia,  parents, city council members, and the school superintendent of the Alexandria City schools are pushing to restore the school resource officer program.  The city council ended the school resource officer program in 2020, reallocating the funds to student mental health programs.   So far this school year, there have been numerous fights, two gun incidents, including a student arrested with a gun at a high school.

— In Tennessee, school officials in Memphis are planning to replace their school resource officer agreement with the Memphis Police with the creation of a district-based law enforcement team of school resource officers. 

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Safety Law News for October 6, 2021

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— In California, the United States District Court upheld the detention and seizure of a teacher after the teacher admitted he had the gun in his classroom.  The court stated that the California Gun-Free School Zone Act makes it a crime to carry a firearm in a school zone.  The exemption for possession of a gun by  a “peace officer,” does not include reservists.  Therefore, despite the fact that the teacher worked part-time as a reserve police officer in a nearby city, the detention and seizure were justified.  Joseph Nguyen v. County. of San Bernardino.

— In Virginia,  the Richmond Public School Board voted to keep its school resource officer program.   The Board will revise its policies to provide additional training on when officers should get involved in school discipline incidents and when an arrest is appropriate.  The Board also voted to change the appearance of the officers by modifying the police uniform.

— In Iowa, the Cedar Rapids schools have modified their school resource officer program.  Pertinent portions of the revised program include: (1) the removal of officers in elementary and middle schools.  These officers will be an “on-call” resource and will be used to provide instruction on “run, hide and fight” — training in the event of an active shooter on campus — and lessons on civic engagement, according to the amended agreement; (2) the daily presence of police at the high schools and the alternative school; (3) a change of attire to “soft” uniforms to appear more approachable; (4) new constraints on interrogating students except when parents or guardians are present.

— In Minnesota, the Saint Paul School Board, which previously voted to end its contract with the police to provide safety on its campuses, are now working to bring back the officers for school sponsored football and basketball games.

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Safety Law News for October 1, 2021

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— In Oregon, the United States District Court, ruled that the use of a taser by school resource officers was an excessive use of force.  The student, enrolled in a college preparatory charter school, was discovered in a vacant building near campus, by an SRO.  The officer called for backup to investigate after smelling a “very strong odor of marijuana.”  During the subsequent search and seizure, the second officer utilized three times a taser set on “drive-stun” mode for 5 seconds when the student failed to comply with instruction and started to walk away.  Applying the three-factor test of Graham v. Connor,( 490 U.S. 386 (1989)), the court ruled that the officers were not entitled to summary judgment or qualified immunity because (1) the use of a taser, even in drive-stun mode, is far from a trivial application of force; (2) the crimes at issue were not severe; (3) the student did not pose an immediate threat to the officers.

Michael Francisco  v. City of Redmond

— In Virginia, school resource officers in Prince William County will soon operate under a new set of rules regarding when students are subject to arrest for misbehaving in school.  The Prince William County Police Department and school division officials are in the process of revising the memorandum of understanding that dictates police officers’ role in school discipline matters.

The aim of the revisions is to ensure school resource officers do not arrest students for “minor offenses,” such as thefts, disorderly conduct and fighting.

— In Tennessee, parents in the Shelby County Schools district are pushing for more resource officers inside the schools after a shooting in a K-8 school.  Under current policy, there is one officer for each high school and middle school.  The elementary schools share one officer.
— In California, officials in Cathedral City voted to bring back school resource officers to high schools campuses.  The police were removed based on ambiguity about the role of police officers in maintaining discipline in the schools.

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Safety Law News for September 27, 2021

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— In Illinois, the Appellate Court of Illinois affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by parents of  a student who was injured  while operating a machine in the high school’s technology lab.  School officials were immune civil liability based on the Illinois Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act.  Under the Act, educators are immune for failing to supervise an activity on or the use of school property.  The court rejected the argument of the student that the “willful and wanton conduct” exception to immunity was applicable because there was no evidence of a deliberate intention  by educators to cause harm or a conscious disregard for the student’s welfare. Williams v. Streator Township High School District No. 40

— In Illinois, the Chicago Board of Education voted to retain its school resource officer program.  The provisions of the agreement with the Chicago Police Department will deploy officers only in the schools that want them.  Nearly a dozen schools did not wish to retain the officers.

— In Minnesota, officials in the Minneapolis Public Schools, who cancelled the deployment of school resource officers from campuses during the school day are continuing their after-hours policy of using police to provide security at games and other school-sponsored events.

— In Kentucky, Hopkins County School officials sent out a letter to parents to prevent growth of the “the Devious Lick” TikTok challenge where the social media app TikTok is used to encourage students to vandalize schools and school property.

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Safety Law News for September 21, 2021

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— In Maryland, the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland affirmed the dismissal of a negligence action brought by parents against teachers and administrators at their daughter’s middle school for injuries she received from fellow students.  The court found that any negligence by school officials in response to the physical and verbal altercations were entitled to statutory immunity  under the Paul D. Coverdell Teacher Protection Act of 2001.  It was significant that there was “an absence of evidence to support the allegations that the (educators) failed to adequately respond to, investigate, and prevent reasonably foreseeable harm…(and that) the evidence show(ed) that the (school officials) responded and took action.”  Gambrill v. Board of Education of Dorchester County

— In Indiana, most local school districts will use money from an Indiana Department of Homeland Security school safety grant to bolster their school resource officer programs.  The awards, which are for fiscal year 2022, requires school districts with more than 1,000 students to match the amount of money they received dollar-for-dollar.

— In California, after the Aug. 31 death of a student on a high school campus, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board swiftly voted to reinstate student resource officers on campuses and embark on a new pilot program pairing them with mental health clinicians in an attempt to put community safety concerns.

— In Missouri, officials in Washington City are implementing a body camera program in the schools.  Each school resource officer will receive training in its use.  The body cameras archive video footage digitally on the cloud.  The new cameras are also interoperable, meaning they interact with one another to allow officers to see footage from different cameras that were recording at the same time.