School Safety Law Blog – Page 66 – News and Information for School Safety

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Safety Law News for June 5, 2018

by Bernie James • June 5, 2018

In Kentucky, the Warren County Superintendent is asking the board of education to implement the recommendations of the Regional Safety Task Force. The task force recommends the expansion of the school resource officer program and mental health services and the purchase of hand-held metal detectors.

Nationally, a new research study by Education Week compiles the responses of nearly 400 school resources officers on their duties. The study reports that seventy-three percent of SROs in school-police departments say their schools specify the types of issues SROs can intervene in as compared to 56 percent of those in local police/sheriff’s offices who assign officers to schools.

In Ohio, the Talawanda Board of Education has approved two personnel policies to deal with school safety. School resource officers will be assigned to each district building and social workers will be placed in each elementary school.

In Maine, the state has tasked the Juvenile Justice Assistance Group to study the use of school resource officers. The study will look at how school officers are hired, trained and how effective they are in dealing with a whole range of school-based issues. There are nearly 67 school resource law enforcement officers working in 93 schools. There are 620 public schools in the state.

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Safety Law News for May 31, 2018

by Bernie James • May 31, 2018

In Florida, the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District held that a judge abused his discretion when it granted a student’s motion to dismiss an on-campus marijuana possession violation based upon judge’s perspective of the most suitable way to address juvenile’s circumstances. The court held that despite the judge’s belief that dismissal was in best interest of public and parties, the state attorney makes the final determination to prosecute. (State v. A.J.)

In Alabama, the Governor has created the Alabama Sentry Program that authorizes school administrators in Alabama to maintain a firearm on campus if their school does not have school-based law enforcement. It is a voluntary program that will require that the administrator complete training through the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

In North Carolina, Senate Bill 756, the School Security Act of 2018 has been introduced in the legislature. If enacted, teachers would be authorized to become undercover school resource officers. Each teacher would be required to undergo basic police training and would be sworn officers with guns in the classroom.

In Michigan, House Bill 6066 and House Bill 6067, have been introduced in the legislature. If enacted, teachers would be allowed to carry Tasers, self-defense sprays and foams. In order to carry a Taser, a teacher would have to obtain a concealed pistol license and undergo training.

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Safety Law News for May 25, 2018

by Bernie James • May 25, 2018

In New York, the Warren County Supervisors have discovered that it will cost $2,500 per year to have each of the Sheriff’s Office school resource officers covered by the county’s liability insurance. County leaders agreed to have the county absorb the cost for the upcoming year and discuss the matter with schools for future years.

In Wyoming, the Campbell County School District has approved a new policy that will arm school staff members. Six school officials will undergo 40 hours of active shooter training that will be specific to what could happen with a shooter in school.

In Colorado, the Loveland Police Department accepted donated body armor from Steel Ops, a Fort Collins, Colorado company, for its school resource officers. The protection vests, each containing extra layers of steel plating are said to be “more than capable of handling any of the threats seen lately.”

In Wyoming, the Casper City Council passed a resolution declaring a commitment to play an active role in preventing school violence. A budget proposal looks to tripling the number of police officers working inside its schools.

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Safety Law News for May 22, 2018

by Bernie James • May 22, 2018

In Colorado, officials in the Denver Public Schools are exploring a new policy of creating an in-house school district police department. Under the plan, the goal is to select and train armed police officers with power to arrest students, but in a manner consistent with district restorative justice policy, thereby relying less on outside police and ending the school-to-jail pipeline.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that seeks to collect data on the number of school resource officers nationwide. House Resolution 5242, also known as the School Resource Officer Assessment Act, heads to the Senate for consideration. It will require the attorney general and the secretary of education to collect information on how many resource officers are in the nation’s 95,230 public schools.

In North Carolina, the Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission voted to require all school resource officers to complete training authored by the North Carolina Justice Academy. The new policy is in response to a request by the State Attorney General mandatory training to improve school safety.

In New York, the Warren County Supervisors approved a new policy that will place a school resource officer in each school. Each school district will collaborate with the County Sheriff’s Office for selection, training, and supervision of the officers.

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Safety Law News for May 10, 2018

by Bernie James • May 10, 2018

In Missouri, a non-sworn security officer in the St. Louis County schools was arrested and charged with assault for violating school district policy when he used a Taser on an unarmed middle-school student. School district policy of the Normandy Schools Collaborative prohibits anyone other than a law enforcement officer from carrying any weapon capable of deadly use on school grounds.

In Indiana, officials in Lake County, Porter County, and LaPorte County are implementing agreements with local police to give them access to all school buildings using remote keyless entry fobs and swipe-cards. The memorandum of understanding also calls for each officer to be issued a school ID card. Some private schools are planning to join the memorandum.

In South Carolina, the South Carolina House of Representatives unanimously amended the state budget to let retired state workers return to a state job and be exempt from a $10,000 earnings cap on working retirees. The goal is to ease a statewide shortage of teachers and school resource officers.

In Michigan, the House of Representatives passed a set of school safety initiatives. A bipartisan six-bill package would create a school safety commission, establish statewide safety standards for school buildings, require school-based law enforcement training, mandate reporting between schools and police, grade school performance, and provide funds for upgrades. See H.B. 5828; H.B. 5829; H.B. 5830; H.B. 5850; H.B. 5851; H.B. 5852

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Safety Law News for May 8, 2018

by Bernie James • May 8, 2018

In New York, the mayor and the police chief of the City of Syracuse say sworn school resource officers will stay in Syracuse schools. The announcement came in response to a request from the city’s police union to remove the officers due to concerns for officer safety created school discipline policies.

In Georgia, the Laurens County School Board approved arming teachers. Laurens is a rural county spread over 807 square miles. It shares the cost of rotating Laurens County deputies among schools, but it can take more than 30 minutes to get from one school to the other.

In Florida, the Manatee County Commission voted not to provide more funding to pay for school resource officers. Throughout the state, many districts are scrambling to find funding to meet the new state requirement for school safety. School leaders say the state did not provide enough new funding to cover the costs.

In New Mexico, teachers at Capital High School and Santa Fe High School want metal detectors installed at campus entrances. This campus security concern was included in a presentation made to the school board.