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Safety Law News for January 15th, 2021

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— In Pennsylvania, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, affirmed the adjudicated delinquency of a student for aggravated assault of a teaching staff member.  18 Pa.C.S. § 2705(a)(5).  The law protects teachers from students who, “attempt to cause or intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to a teaching staff member … acting in the scope of his or her employment or because of his or her employment relationship to the school.”  “Bodily injury” is defined as impairment of physical condition or substantial pain.  On this basis, the court ruled that “[s]ubstantial pain may be inferred from the facts” of the student twice hitting with closed fist the head of the teacher.  Interest of A.B.

— In Illinois, a state representative introduced legislation that would eliminate school resource officers in schools.  The provisions of House Bill 0029, would not allow law enforcement officers on a schools property unless urgent and immediate action was necessary.  However, the next day, the state representative decided she was no longer moving forward with the bill.

— In Florida, the Seminole County Public School District is testing gun detection technology for use on its 52-acre campus at Oviedo High School.  The new technology, known as ZeroEyes,  uses the school’s existing surveillance cameras to spot guns and alert school resource officers and teachers within seconds.

— In North Dakota, child care agencies, schools, and law enforcement in Stark County are assessing their efforts to protect children from sexual abuse.  The Stark County Sheriff’s Office credits school resource officers who “interacting with youth [are] helping us in detecting this type of behavior….The relationships SRO’s are able to develop with young folks and their parents creates an atmosphere of trust which facilitates an ability for these crimes to be reported.”

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Safety Law News for January 12th, 2021

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— In California, the Court of Appeal, Fifth District, ruled that a law enforcement officer violated the rights of a student by conducting a search of his person while detaining the youth on campus for smelling strongly of marijuana. The jurisdiction argued at trial that the search was not based on reasonable suspicion but rather “ “common practice and procedure,” just in case the minor possessed a knife.”  On appeal, the jurisdiction recanted this position and argued that the officer possessed reasonable suspicion.  The court ruled that the new position was not allowed on appeal.  Therefore, because there were no articulable facts on the record from which a rational inference of suspicion could be drawn the weapon discovered in the search would be suppressed. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff & Appellant, v. JESUS R.

— In Wyoming, a student showed another student a firearm at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper and a Casper PD School Resource Officer was notified immediately and able to quickly and safely bring the student that showed the gun into custody.  The community is documenting the incident as “a stark reminder about the role School Resource Officers serve and how important they are for the community.”

— In Maryland, school officials in Montgomery County are emphasizing their desire to keep their school resource officer programs.  In October, all high school principals and the leaders of three special schools told the school board they support keeping school resource officers. In December, the Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals penned a letter to the school board urging it to continue the program.  They say, “[t]he School Resource Officer Program in Montgomery County has greatly benefited the school system… We need SROs in our schools.”

— In Illinois, Senate Amendment #2 to HB 163 seeks to reform the role of law enforcement in the state.  The legislation eliminates qualified immunity for police officers, defunds municipalities by as much as 40% percent, revises physicality rules by totally prohibiting chokeholds, and mandates body cameras for all police departments.

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Safety Law News for January 8th, 2021

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— In California, the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit ruled that a special needs student did not have to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a civil lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The parents alleged that school officials discriminated against the student on the basis of his disability by removing him from school in response to his disruptive behavior.  The court reasoned that three different federal statutes may come into play when a child with disabilities and his family assert education-based claims of unlawful treatment: the IDEA,; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Title II of the ADA.  Exhaustion applies only when a student challenges the adequacy of a child’s educational program (FAPE) and not when injured in ways unrelated to a FAPE.  D. D. by & through Ingram v. Los Angeles Unified School District

— In North Carolina, A former Vance County school resource officer pleaded guilty to assault and child abuse charges after he was caught on camera body slamming an 11-year-old student.  The former officer pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors: Failure to discharge duty and assault on a child under 12. He was sentenced to 55 days on the assault charge and 45 days on the failure to discharge duty charge.

— In North Carolina, Beaufort County Schools are terminating the school safety MOU with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.  The deputies will remain in the schools until the end of the current school year and the educators are looking for a security contractor for the 2021-22 school year.

— In California, the Governor signed into law AB 685 that authorizes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to prohibit entry into unsafe schools that place school employees at risk of the COVID-19 infection  The law also requires schools to provide written notice to all employees and their partner unions of positive COVID-19 cases and information about COVID-19-related benefits they are entitled to.

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Safety Law News for January 4th, 2021

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— In Ohio, the United States Court of Appeals held that school officials were not entitled to governmental immunity from liability arising out of the death of an eight-year-old student, who took his own life after severe bullying at the hands of other students.  The court found that the state immunity laws did not cover the reckless behavior of the educators who misreported the occurrences of violence, failed to discipline violent students, and consciously disregarded the “known or obvious risk of harm” that students faced daily.  Meyers v. Cincinnati Board of Education

— In Connecticut, a special committee of the New Haven Public Schools Board of Education completed its review of the school resource program and will formally recommend the continuation of the use of police officers. The findings of the committee included the conclusion that, “[i]t doesn’t appear that SROs [school resource officers] are a problem.”  A survey of roughly 1,600 students, parents and school employees found that the majority of respondents thought SROs were important and should remain in schools.

— In Tennessee, the Tennessee Behavior Supports Project, funded by the state Department of Education, and aided by the University of Tennessee, is helping schools implement the Response to Instruction and Intervention-Behavior program (RTI²-B).   RTI²-B address students’ behavioral and social needs through a system in which schools rate every child on a Student Risk Screening Scale to identify students who are at a high risk for internalizing adverse childhood experiences and therefore need more attention.

— In Massachusetts, the Governor signed a police reform bill into law that creates a system for certifying police officers in Massachusetts and gives a new civilian-led panel the ability to revoke their licenses for misconduct.  Provisions of the law prohibit school personnel and school resource officers from sharing certain information about students with law enforcement, including whether they are believed to be in a gang “unless it is germane to a specific unlawful incident.”

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Safety Law News for December 17, 2020

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— In New Mexico, the Court of Appeals of New Mexico held that the statements of a student to an assistant principal about possessing a knife on school property were presumptively inadmissible in a delinquency proceeding.  The statute, NMSA 1978, Section 32A-2-14(F) “establishes a rebuttable presumption that any confessions…made by a child thirteen or fourteen years old to a person in a position of authority are inadmissible.”  The court held that school could compel answers from a student for the purposes of school discipline, but that the statute would constrain the use of the statements in a criminal proceeding. State v. Cesar B.

— In Massachusetts, United States District Court ruled that the suspension of students for participating in an online chat group that bullied another student in connection with school sponsored activities did not violate the First Amendment.  The court held that “[the] First Amendment does not interfere with basic school discipline.”  The court noted that “bullying is the type of conduct that constitutes an invasion of the rights of others under Tinker.”  Doe by and through Doe v. Hopkinton Public Schools

— In Colorado, the United States District Court ruled that a high school had authority to discipline a student for his anti-Semitic off-campus speech on his social media post.  The student posted on Snapchat an anti-Semitic caption, “Me and the boys bout to exterminate the Jews,” on social media platform along with picture of his three classmates.  The court held that “Tinker applies to off-campus speech.”  The court noted that “[t]he post “was materially and substantially disruptive in that it interfered with the schools’ work and collided with the rights of other students to be secure and to be let alone.”  C1.G. v. Siegfried

— In Texas, the Lake Travis Independent School District approved a resolution to create a district police force. Currently, Travis County deputies serve as school resource officers.  The ISD will hire a police chief and five officers, along with purchasing uniforms, equipment, vehicles and other start-up items.

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Safety Law News for November 4, 2020

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— In Virginia, the Alexandria School Board approved a revised memorandum of understanding with the Alexandria Police Department to keep school resource officers in Alexandria schools.  The vice chair of the school board made this statement, “I’m really baffled by some of the advocacy we have received because I can’t fathom why we’re even considering taking away resources from the very kids we all claim to champion.  If you want to impact the school to prison pipeline and suspensions, it’s not the SROs that are causing it.”

— In Iowa, the Iowa City School District is developing “threat assessment,” or “care assessment,” teams for its 29 schools.  Based on the Virginia Threat Assessment Model, the program walks users through a process for identifying and preventing threats that can range from bullying and teasing to potential violence.  The program uses disciplinary measures when necessary, in tandem with providing students and families with mental health, counseling and conflict-resolution services.

— In Maryland, Montgomery County police have a specialized unit devoted to preparing officers to recognize signs that someone might have autism. The Montgomery County police Autism/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Alzheimer’s and Dementia Outreach Unit also helps prepare people with autism and their caregivers for safe interactions with police.  A 2017 study found that about 20 percent of youths with autism had been stopped and questioned by police before reaching age 21.  See Study Here

— In New Jersey, the United States District Court refused to dismiss a Title IX claim brought against a school that knew about student-on-student assaults but thought it best “not have the information spread,” and kept the incidents quiet.  The court ruled that a school district has knowledge under Title IX where the victim of the harassment reports an incident to an “appropriate person” who has authority to take corrective action.  Deliberate indifference can lead to school liability.  M.H. by D.H. v. C.M.