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Safety Law News for April 28, 2020

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• A new Report published by the U.S. Department of Justice details the results of five “listening sessions” with the leadership of rural law enforcement agencies in five states.  The Report emphasizes lessons officers learn working in rural and remote places on community policing, school safety, and de-escalating incidents.

• In Kentucky, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council will give its approval to the Daviess County Public Schools to create its own law enforcement agency to provide school security.  The special law enforcement officers will be Police Officer Professional Standards certified, will receive annual training required by the state and will have full law enforcement powers.

• In Mississippi, the board for the Houston School District approved a new protocol for students committing terroristic or threatening acts.  According to the protocol, when the offense occurs, the student is immediately removed from student population and the SRO (School Resource Officer) or authorities are notified.  The parents and the Intake Officer are notified immediately.

• In Rhode Island, the United States Court of Appeals held that explanations contained in school disciplinary records need not be detailed nor answer every issue raised by the student challenging the outcome.  The court ruled that a short, well-reasoned explanation of the disciplinary decision will suffice.  The school district’s decision to suspend a student for one day for fighting were not so insufficiently reasoned as to deny her procedural due process.  (Zell v. Ricci)

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Safety Law News for April 24, 2020

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• In Oklahoma, the Senate passed a gun bill that opens the door for more school employees to carry guns.  House Bill 2336 passed through the House last year and now goes to the Governor.  If enacted, the law would require a school employee to have the eight (8) hours training that is required for the standard firearm permit, along with the permission of the school board and training as required by local law enforcement.

• In Louisiana,  an analysis of the state data indicates that more than half of the state’s school districts increased safety spending.  K-12 schools in Louisiana increased its annual spending on safety measures to at least $32 million in the 2017-18 school year, the most recent year data is available, from $28 million in 2015-16, according to the Louisiana Department of Education.  One school district spends $3 million a year to have law enforcement officers on its campuses.

• In Kentucky, juvenile justice officials are reporting a decrease in the number of criminal complaints involving juveniles since the passage of Senate Bill 200.  Enacted in 2014, the law creates a pre-court diversion process for low-level delinquent and status offenders that utilizes a multidisciplinary review team, case management and referrals to services.  One county is reporting a 53% decrease in juvenile complaints.

• In Kentucky, a lawsuit filed by Daviess County Public Schools against e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs says the school district was harmed by a coordinated effort by Juul to addict students to nicotine.  The educators allege that Juul engaged in racketeering by employing advertising firms to draw teens’ eyes to Juul products, by paying internet influencers to recommend Juul devices to their followers and also by rewarding affiliate social media sites and blogs who would refer viewers to Juul.

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Safety Law News for April 20, 2020

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• In Washington State, the Court of Appeals of Washington refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by parents of a student who was killed during a field trip consisting of a teacher taking his class on a short walk alongside a busy road in violation of school policy.  The court ruled that a trial was necessary to determine whether the accident, caused when a driver fell asleep behind the wheel and drove his vehicle onto the sidewalk, was foreseeable.  (Meyers v. Ferndale School District)

• In New York,  the Supreme Court refused to dismiss a negligence lawsuit bought by a student who was attacked by another student at school.  The court noted that the victim gave notice of his fear of assault to administrators, staff, and security personnel.  The legal standard in such cases is that a “school has a common law duty adequately to supervise its students, as they have physical custody of the students, and stand in for their parents while in attendance.”  At trial, the school will have to show that it lacked sufficient knowledge of the danger such that the assault was not foreseeable and that the assault occurred so quickly and spontaneously that even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it.  (Cummings v. South Country Central School District)

• In North Carolina, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina dismissed a parent’s lawsuit claiming that repeated bullying and harassment denied her children their right to an education.  The parent claimed that despite two-years of complaints, school officials’ response was that school discipline policies would “take time” to work.  The court held that the North Carolina Constitution that provides that, “the people have a right to the privilege of education,” was “strictly confined to the intellectual function of academics,” and did not created a private right of action for abuse and injury claims.  (Deminski v. State Board of Education)

• In Illinois, a school resource officer used pepper spray to break up a fight involving a group of at least five girls in a middle school lunch room.  School officials later confirmed that its officers receive annual tactical training on deescalating campus disruptions of groups of students with pepper spray.

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Safety Law News for April 14, 2020

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In Kentucky, the United States District Court held that the rights of a parent were not violated when educators reported their safety concerns to law enforcement after the parent made threatening statements in frustration at bullying his son was experiencing.  After his arrest, trial and acquittal for terroristic threatening in the second degree, the parent filed suit claiming unlawful detention and malicious prosecution.  The court ruled that he did not have a right “to enter a public school, express his displeasure… use emotionally charged words associated with known school tragedies…suggest he would use stealth and self-help to protect his son…yet not have this situation reported to a law enforcement officer assigned to the school.” (Adams v. Osborne)

• In Nevada, the Carson City School District approved an agreement between the school district and the Carson City Sheriff’s Office to continue its School Resource Officers program.  The agencies will split the cost of the officers.

• In Illinois, the school board for Oak Park and River Forest schools unanimously approved changes to the student interview policy.  The new policy requires police officers to make reasonable efforts to ensure the student’s parent is present during questioning or ensure that a school employee is present.

• In New Mexico, Rio Arriba County and the Española Public Schools have agreed to pay $1.3 million to a special-education student who was tased multiple times by a sheriff’s deputy.  In the wake of the incident, Española Public Schools now require school resource officers to complete training specific to disabilities and adolescent psychology within their first semester on the job.

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Safety Law News for April 9, 2020

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• In Kentucky, the General Assembly passed the 2020-2021 budget that includes a $40 million earmark to implement the recently enacted school safety laws.  The laws require specific security measures at school buildings, mandate more mental health and counseling services, and provide funding for hiring more school resource officers.

• In Maine, a revised agreement between Portland schools and the police department focuses on the rules for the use of body cameras worn by the officers who are deployed on campus.  The agreement includes provisions that body cameras not operate in covert mode and that the videos be downloaded daily to a secure server at the Portland Police Department.

• In Massachusetts, Monomoy Regional High School is deploying a canine as part of its program to fight vaping, known as “Project Connect.”  The program will use the dog to increase supervision by detecting marijuana and its active ingredient, THC, as well as nicotine, both of which are used in e-cigarettes and other vaping devices.  The dog will also be used for drug awareness classes and school safety presentations at the other schools.  This element combines with enhanced health education to discourage student vaping.

• In New Mexico, the governor signed Senate Bill 111, which will provide an incentive for public service retirees to return to work.  The law will allow retired teachers, bus drivers, secretaries, professors, and school resource officers to return to work in schools without paying non-refundable contributions into the State Educational Retirement

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Safety Law News for April 3, 2020

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• In Ohio, the Court of Appeals of Ohio held that school officials in the Madison Local School District did not have the authority to arm employees with firearms based on a policy that requires only “24 hours of active shooter/killer training, completed and passed a criminal background check, a drug screen, and a mental health evaluation.”  Ohio law requires that, “[n]o public or private educational institution…shall employ a person as a special police officer, security guard, or other position in which such person goes armed while on duty, who has not received a certificate of having satisfactorily completed an approved basic peace officer training program, unless the person has completed twenty years of active duty as a peace officer.”  (Gabbard v. Madison Local School District)

• The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, held that school officials and chaperones of a school-sponsored trip during which student contracted fatal illness were not entitled to summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by the parents.  The court ruled that, “[a]lthough during school hours the standard is that of the reasonably prudent parent, a lesser standard, that of the reasonable and prudent person, is applicable in the context of a student’s voluntary participation in an intramural or extracurricular school sport.” (Tutaj v. Seaford Union Free School District)

• In Nevada, the Carson City Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to form a partnership with the Carson City School District to fund the School Resource Officer (SRO) program.  Under the agreement, the city and school district will split the cost of the officers.

• In West Virginia,  the Tyler County Sheriff is partnering with school officials to deploy a therapy dog on campuses as a means of creating relationships with children.