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Safety Law News for October 7, 2019

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• In Maine, a new study by the University of Southern Maine examines the role of school resource officers in Maine and concludes that policing alone does not reduce violence or necessarily improve school safety. More specifically, the report finds there is a lack of statewide uniformity governing school-based police, their roles, how they are selected, and trained.

• In Alabama, officials in Baldwin County are adding law enforcement consequences for vaping on campus.  Police have begun confiscating e-cigarettes and issuing a citation and a date to appear in court.  The fine on a guilty student could range from $10 to $50, increasing with each subsequent citation or offense.

• In Wisconsin, the Mishicot School District is requiring 7th and 9th grade students to take a 5-hour online course to teach them the side effects of vaping and how it’s marketed.  The course, called “Vape Educate,” is also being used as an alternative to suspension for students caught vaping.

• In Pennsylvania, the Governor signed into law a bill that requires all Pennsylvania school security guards to go through the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) basic training program.

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Safety Law News for October 1st, 2019

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• In Ohio, the United States District Court held that classroom video of a student without prior parental consent does not implicate the right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. The court reasoned that a student’s reasonable expectation of privacy is limited.  While video surveillance in a school locker-room invades a student’s reasonable expectation of privacy, video surveillance in other common areas does not implicate privacy rights.  (Holly Gregory v. West Clermont Local School District)

• In Illinois, the Appellate Court of Illinois ruled that school officials owed a student no duty for injuries she sustained when, after school was let out, a fellow student accidentally ran into her in a crosswalk, about half a block from the school.  The court declined to impose portal-to-portal liability on the school district.  Instead the court limited this concept to risks that occur while the student is at school or otherwise engaged in school activities. (Kennidy Stephens v. The Board of Education of School District 172).

• In Kentucky, the Warren County Public Schools is promoting a new anonymous reporting tool offered through the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security.  The Safety Tipline Online Prevention Service facilitates reporting bullies and other safety issues.

• In California, the California Court of Appeal unanimously reversed the conviction of a high school student charged with battery and resisting arrest after he “lightly brushed” the hand of a school resource officer in the hallway.  The court held that “[n]ot only did the officer’s conduct fail to enhance school safety, it elevated what should have been a minor school disciplinary matter into one with potential criminal implications. The same is true of the district attorney’s decision to pursue wardship proceedings on this record.”  (People v. Francis A.)

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Safety Law News for September 26, 2019

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In Iowa, the Iowa City Community School District School Board wants more input from people before putting forth a security plan that includes the deployment of school resource officers on campuses.  A letter from all the district’s high school and middle school principals is asking the board to implement such a plan.

In Arizona, the school board for the Tucson Unified schools unanimously approved a policy that will provide Tasers and body cameras to school resource officers.  The policy prohibits using Tasers on anyone under 18, unless deadly force by an officer was already justified.

In Connecticut, Stamford police undercover investigations on sales of vaping products to school-aged kids resulted in three violating stores being assessed fines.  The investigations are the result of meetings with administrators and teachers who told police that too many kids are using vapes.  The sting operations have also be  successful in Suffolk County, New York.

In Tennessee, officials in the Kingsport City Schools are launching an anonymous reporting tool called “P3 Campus.”  The application facilitates anonymous reports on cyberbullying, drugs, harassment, and suicide to school administrators and school resource officers.

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Safety Law News for September 24, 2019

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• In Maine, state officials enacted a law banning vaping or possession of an e-cigarette on school grounds, joining Montana, Oklahoma and Virginia. And in the past three years, at least 18 states have raised the legal smoking age for both traditional and e-cigarettes to 21 in response to the meteoric rise in adolescent vaping. 

• Nationally, a survey of educators reports that 92% percent of K-12 educators feel safe going to school on a regular basis and 65% feel prepared to respond to a school crisis.

• In California, the Court of Appeal, upheld the jury verdict in favor of school officials in a lawsuit filed by a student who was injured when other students were roughhousing in class.  The court reasoned that educators presented evidence of reasonable supervision. The court gave the jury the following instruction: “A school district has a duty to supervise at all times the conduct of the children on the school grounds and to enforce those rules and regulations necessary for their protection. The standard of care is that degree of care which a person of ordinary prudence, charged with comparable duties, would exercise under the same circumstances. Either a total lack of supervision or ineffective supervision may constitute a lack of ordinary care on the part of those responsible for student supervision.” (Ethan Young v. Menifee Union School District).

• In Virginia, the United States District Court held that allegations by student victims of child sexual abuse by a teacher that the school principal had many reasons to know yet took no action were sufficient to state claim against principal for gross negligence under Virginia law. (Graham v. City of Manassas School Board).

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Safety Law News for September 17, 2019

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• In South Carolina, a Department of Education report shows that 1,066 guns, knives and other weapons were confiscated in statewide school districts in the 2018-2019 school year. That total is less than the previous three years.  State officials believe the reduction in the number of weapons is attributable to proactive measures such as Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports, the Random Search Program, and better communication that is creating a culture and climate where students no longer feel the need to bring weapons to school.

• In New York, the Erie County District Attorney is implementing a Liaison Program.  It assigns each assistant district attorney to a school district to work with school resource officers and to visit with students to educate them about the consequences of their choices.

• In Texas, the Hays Consolidated Independent School District is implementing new policies to tackle the vaping epidemic.  One element of the strategy is more training for teachers. Another element is a new enforcement plan made up from a team of school resource officers and students.

• In New Jersey, the Harrington Park School in Bergen County has installed bullet-resistant doors on classrooms to protect students from assault weapons.  The “50-plus” steel bullet-resistant security doors are part of the Northern Valley Regional High School District’s long-term security program.

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Safety Law News for September 12, 2019

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• In New York, the New York Commissioner of Education is implementing a new policy that is designed to prevent school resource officers from detaining or questioning students for the purpose of determining their immigration status.

• In Illinois, all 70 Chicago schools with prior agreements to deploy sworn police officers on their campuses voted to keep the police officers stationed in their schools.

• In Arizona, the Arizona Board of Education officially adopted a timeline and criteria for school safety grants.  The grant program allocates 20 million dollars for the hiring of counselors, social workers, and school resource officers in Arizona schools.

• In Kentucky, the Walton-Verona Independent Schools are adding the “Safety Tipline, Online Prevention” program, also called the S.T.O.P. tipline.  It is an online reporting system that lets students, parents or anyone in the community anonymously share information about potentially unsafe situations.