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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.

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Safety Law News for March 23, 2021

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— In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, held that a school was not liable for injuries sustained by a student at the hands of a fellow student.  The court ruled that “a school district acts in loco parentis with respect to its minor students, [and] owes a special duty to the students.”  This duty requires that schools “adequately supervise the students in their care.”  The court dismissed the lawsuit because the school took reasonable steps to prevent the fight.  While the steps failed to prevent the incident, the court concluded that the school “cannot reasonably be expected to continuously supervise and control all movements and activities of students.”  Wienclaw v. East Islip Union Free School District

— In Florida, the Florida Legislature is considering a proposal to allow counties and municipalities to install cameras in school speed zones and enforce speed limits.  Schools support the legislation based on data that shows its school buses are illegally passed more than 400 times each day while children are getting on and off the buses.

— In Virginia, officials in the Albemarle County School District are planning to replace the police officers in its school safety program with “school safety coaches.”  The new positions will require completion of the police-based school safety officer certification through the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.  Even so, the coaches will neither be armed nor have the authority to arrest.

— In Missouri, the Hannibal Public Schools have revised their anti-bullying program to make greater use of the Courage2Report App to report, document, and act upon incidents of bullying.  When a student uses the app, officials immediately get an email and take action.  Data compiled by the State of Missouri shows that students in rural areas are 15.5% more likely to be bullied than students in urban areas.

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Safety Law News for March 19, 2021

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— In Maryland, the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland reversed the adjudication of a student for shouting in the classroom that he would “shoot up” the room if he did not find a folder he had left behind during an earlier class.  The court ruled that although school officials may prohibit a true threat that is a serious expression of intent to harm others, the dividing line between a true threat and constitutionally protected speech favored the student. No witnesses perceived the statement as a true threat.  In Re: J.W.

— In West Virginia, legislators have proposed a revision to the Education Code that will allow teachers and other school employees to have concealed carry weapons in the classroom.  When approved, the “School Protection Officers” could carry a gun, pepper spray or other allowed protective weapon in school.

— In Colorado, proposed school safety legislation would revise discipline policies to minimize student run-ins with police. Senate Bill 21-182 would require discipline reporting to find and correct racial disparities, modify the school code of conduct to encourage age-appropriate discipline outcomes, and set more stringent rules for the selection of school police officers.

— In California, the majority of students and parents in the Fresno Unified School District want to keep armed police officers on Fresno Unified campuses, according to surveys conducted by the district and Fresno State University.  This represents a significant shift for keeping police in schools.  A majority of the Fresno Unified School District Trustees are also in support of the school resource officer program.

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Safety Law News for March 16, 2021

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— In Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by parents whose special needs child was placed in handcuffs by a school resource officer.  The court ruled that the parents needed to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a civil lawsuit.  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.  When the crux of a special needs lawsuit is the failure of school officials to follow a child’s educational program (FAPE) then administrative remedies must be pursued first.  Ahearn v. E. Stroudsburg Area School District.

— In Oregon, officials in the Salem-Keizer School District announced the end of the district’s school resource officer program.  But the district will keep in place a contract with the Keizer Police Department because the school board believes that, “a healthy and safe school system requires relationships with law enforcement particularly to support child abuse investigations, threat assessments, emergency response, and other key functions as long as that relationship with law enforcement is balanced with creating schools where all students feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging.”

— In Nebraska, lawmakers have agreed to expand a successful pilot program that proved the benefits of a hotline where people could anonymously report concerns about students who may be thinking about harming themselves or other people.  The hotline connects people to trained crisis counselors who can offer help and resources immediately. The counselors also alert local threat assessment teams set up in participating school districts.  The legislation is LB322.

— In Texas, legislation has been introduced that would allow concealed guns in public schools.  In what is intended to expand the state’s marshal program, which allows properly trained staff members to carry guns on campus, the legislation would allow licensed adults to carry weapons in public and charter schools.

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Safety Law News for March 8, 2021

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— In North Carolina, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina ruled that the use of profanity, by a parent whose car was being searched by police officers, was insufficient to support a conviction of disorderly conduct on school property and resisting a public officer in violation of state laws.  The search occurred when a dog alerted to the car on campus.  The court held that when a person “merely remonstrates” she does not violate the law absent evidence that her conduct caused a substantial interference with police activities or the operation of the school.  State v. Humphreys.

— In Washington State, the Supreme Court of Washington reversed the dismissal of a wrongful death claim brought on behalf of a student who was killed by a vehicle while on an off-campus walk with his physical education class.  The court ruled that schools have a duty “to anticipate dangers which may reasonably be anticipated, and to then take precautions to protect students from such dangers…[even] where the harm stems from an intervening act of a third person.”Applying this standard, the court ruled that material issues of fact existed concerning whether formal field trip policy applied and was followed, whether parental permission was required, and whether proper safeguards were taken.  Meyers v. Ferndale School District

— In Maine, officials from the Portland School District and the Portland Police Department are hearing from campus employees and parents on how to keep the schools safe after the 2020 decision by the Portland school board to remove school resource officers.

— In Maryland,  Maryland Governor Larry Hogan posted his personal opposition to pending legislation (HB 1089) that if enacted would remove all school resource officers from Maryland campuses.  “Every child deserves to be safe while getting an education. This extreme proposal would make our children less safe as they return to school.”