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Safety Law News for April 16, 2021

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— In Kansas, the United States District Court held that educators do not have immunity when they fail to properly supervise students.  In refusing to dismiss a lawsuit brought by parents of a student who was repeatedly assaulted in school, the court ruled that discretionary function immunity does not shield schools from liability from the failure to supervise and protect students.  State laws create a legal duty that educators are required to follow.  Spencer Edgin v. Blue Valley USD

— In Tennessee, the 2019-2020 Safe Schools Report by the Tennessee Department of Education released the statistics related to school safety.  For each school, the sum of serious school safety incidents (i.e., possession of a handgun, assault of a teacher, or assault of a student) is divided by the school’s average daily membership (ADM), which gives a School Safety Index score. A higher index score indicates a relatively higher level of reported incidents.

— A national student survey, conducted by Navigate360 and John Zogby Strategies highlights students’ lack of confidence in their school’s ability to keep them safe.  The majority (54%) of students did not believe schools were equipped to respond effectively to emergency incidents or student mental health needs.  Only 38% of teens were confident that school officials could be relied upon to create an atmosphere of physical and social-emotional safety in the classroom.

— In California, proposed legislation would allow speed safety cameras near schools to slow drivers’ speeds in an effort to increase the safety of children, pedestrians and cyclists.  SB 735 would require that speed safety cameras be set up in school zones, during school hours, and for sports and other activities taking place in a school setting.  The cameras would be set up to scan license plates to enforce speeding violations.

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Safety Law News for April 12, 2021

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— In Missouri, the United States Court of Appeals held that a school resource officer did not violate the Fourth Amendment when the officer summoned a student to the office to be interrogated by outside police about a non-school incident.  Reversing the trial court ruling that the school resource officer was not entitled to qualified immunity, the appellate court ruled that the nominal role of the SRO in the incident did not satisfy the elements of an illegal seizure.  The SRO did not question the student, but merely escorted the student to a room and closed a door.  Therefore, qualified immunity was appropriate.  L.G. through M.G. v. Columbia Public Schools.

— In Ohio, the Kirtland Schools Superintendent is sharing with the community the details of the revised school safety policy.  It focuses on personalized learning for students, a safe environment, well-managed finances and community engagement.  The successful implementation confirms that teaching soft skills and critical thinking from a young age is of great importance.

— In California, a student at Valley Christian High School in San Jose has created a safety app that speeds up the reporting of sexual assaults.  The 16 year old developed “Keep Me Safe,” an app that utilizing voice recognition to trigger an loud alarm to scare off the assailant while sending details to 911.  It also creates a text alert for police with the user’s location.

— In Florida, educators at Neil Armstrong Elementary School in Charlotte County continue to experience success using student safety patrols through the AAA School Safety Patrol Program.  Educators believe the student patrollers protect other students while teaching lifelong leadership skills. The AAA Safety Patrol Student Program is celebrating its 100-year anniversary.

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Safety Law News for April 8, 2021

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— In New York, the United States District Court upheld the search and seizure of a student whose threats to blow up school property were taken seriously by school officials.  The student told classmates, “don’t come to school tomorrow” and that he was going to blow up the school. The court held that the seizure, in which the student was placed in a conference room, was reasonable in both duration and scope.  The court also upheld the searches of the student’s locker, wallet, and cell phone.  As to the cell phone, the court ruled that “[a] cellular phone can be used to detonate an explosive device, and therefore a search of the phone was reasonably related to the objectives of the investigation of the bomb threat.”  N.U. by Amar v. E. Islip Union Free School District

— In Colorado, Senate Bill 182, which would have heavily restricted law enforcement’s authority inside schools, has been removed from legislative consideration in the current session.  The provisions of SB 182 would have placed schools at risk by prohibiting arrests and tickets for students suspected of an array of offenses — like physical assault or sexual harassment of teachers and other students, trespassing, gambling, loitering, petty marijuana offenses or offenses relating to alcohol or tobacco use.

— In Maryland, officials in Anne Arundel County are focusing on connecting students with mentors and counselors instead of arresting them for juvenile offenses under an experimental “pre-arrest diversion” program.  Under the provisions of the “Fresh START” program, police patrol and school resource officers hope to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in charging teens; and provide early intervention services to youth affected by trauma, mental health and/or substance abuse.

— In Florida, the Sarasota County School District is signaling the alarm over THC-laced products that are appearing in schools.  Both law enforcement officials and educators are warning parents that the drug is being packaged in forms that are difficult to detect.  The THC is made to appear as candy or snacks.

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Safety Law News for April 5, 2021

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— In Oregon, the United States District Court certified a class-action lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Education brought by parents of special needs students to challenge a form of blue-slipping school discipline.  “Blue-slipping” identifies a widespread practice in which schools, under pressure to keep reported suspension rates low, send disruptive students home informally.  Schools justify this practice for many reasons, not least because of insufficient support personnel to oversee and correct disruptive student behaviors.  The federal court ruled that the parents could sue the state on behalf of all students with disabilities aged 3 to 21 who had been subjected to a shortened school day or were at substantial risk of being subjected to a shortened school day due to their disability-related behaviors.  J.N. v. Oregon Department of Education

— In Florida, members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office received training to help communicate with students with autism.  The training emphasizes recognizing the unique challenges that confront autistic children, the best ways to interact, and traits that can help avoid miscommunication.

— In Maryland, the General Assembly is considering legislation that would increase the qualifications necessary to serve as a school resource officer.   House Bill 522, will require a school resource office or school security employee to meet heightened qualifications, require the Maryland Center for School Safety to develop a specialized curriculum, including educators in the curriculum, and establish a complaint process for students and parents.

— In Maryland, parents, students and educators in the Charles County Public Schools have given their School Resource Officer program strong support, with 90% of respondents saying the presence of SROs is either extremely important or important to them.  According to the survey, 72.97% said it was extremely important to have SROs assigned to schools; 17.43% said it was important. A little over 6% of the 5,627 respondents — which included students, parents, school system staff and community members — said it wasn’t needed.

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Safety Law News for March 31, 2021

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— In New York, the United States District Court refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a student who was sexually harassed and physically assaulted during a study hall by another student.  School officials told the victim that the incident would “be a warning” for the harasser and reassigned the victim to her harasser’s study hall.  The court ruled that liability under Title IX is established when, after a school is placed on notice, it fails to take reasonable steps to protect the victim.  The school has a duty to prevent a student from encountering her harasser.  AA by BB v. Hammondsport Central School District

— In Illinois, officials in Elgin have hired a gang intervention specialist to empower their gang prevention program.  The violence intervention program, Operation Homefront, will focus on decreasing juvenile violence, minimizing juvenile arrests, stemming gang involvement and reducing high school dropout rates. It will have a multidisciplinary approach with partnerships between the police, schools, community-based organizations, residents and faith-based groups.

— In Virginia, officials in Henrico County are having a public comment period on proposed changes to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the role of police in schools.  The first proposed change would require the school’s principal to make a good faith effort to contact the student’s parent prior to the beginning of any student interview by police.  The second change would require a parent or guardian to be contacted in person, electronically or by phone or video conference when a student is arrested.  The third change would mandate that a police official who wants to interview a student on campus as part of a criminal investigation do so through the school resource officer in coordination with school administrators.

— Two school districts have revised and renewed their school safety plans to deploy police officers.  In California, officials in the City of Carlsbad have extended the agreement at the request of the schools.  The schools continue to believe that the “relationship with law enforcement is cooperative and productive.”  In New Mexico, the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board is keeping officers in schools after implementing eight recommendations created by a community advisory board.

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Safety Law News for March 26, 2021

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— In Missouri, the Missouri Court of Appeals refused to grant immunity to school teachers and nurses in a lawsuit brought by parents of a special needs child who died as a result of obstruction of her tracheostomy.  The court ruled that official immunity would not protect the school officials from liability arising from their failure to comply with the directives set forth in student’s individualized education program.  The court ruled that the malpractice was not protected under the Paul D. Coverdell Teacher Protection Act of 2001 because it was not properly included on the face of the educators’ petition to support their motion to dismiss.  Kemp v. McReynolds

— In North Carolina, officials in the Wake County Public School District are continuing its school resource officers program after two community surveys revealed support for continuing the program if revisions in the role of the police officers are made. The district’s latest community survey of the program shows that three-quarters of respondents still favor the collaboration.

— In North Carolina, Beaufort County Schools have reorganized their school safety plan around a new partnership with a private security company.  Allied Universal Security will provide the district with school resource officers.  Its personnel is comprised of sworn and armed law enforcement officers, “dressed as a sworn police officer, uniformed similar to what a state trooper would look like.”  The private police force will work before, during, and after the school day ends.

— In New Hampshire, the Senate passed a bill that establishes committees to study the role and scope of authority of school resource officers.  Senate Bill 96, which also requires that the memorandum of understanding between a school district and a school resource officer be made public, was sent on to the House of Representatives.