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Safety Law News for September 11, 2018

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  • In Connecticut, the training of school-based police in the Hartford schools emphasizes keeping a professional image at all times.  The motto is, “Don’t meet with students alone. Don’t text kids or give them rides. Fist bumps, yes; hugs, no. Be a trusted adult, not a friend.

 

  • In Indiana, officials in Lawrenceburg have installed an internet-based, mobile-friendly school security camera system.  The project involved the installation of 226 cameras in all schools in the Lawrenceburg Community School Corporation.  The system will be a new resource for local police departments; they have access to the camera system.

 

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Safety Law News for September 7, 2018

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  • In Virginia,  school officials in Prince William County, Virginia finalized plans to put armed, retired police officers from Virginia law enforcement in elementary schools to provide an added layer of security.  The schools are taking advantage of a Virginia law passed in 2017 that allows school districts to hire retired police officers, which are more affordable than school resource officers.

 

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Safety Law News for September 4, 2018

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  • In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ruled that educators were not liable to a child who was injured when students were “rough housing” in the hallway, resulting in the victim being grabbed and thrown on his head.  The court reasoned that while schools have a duty to provide supervision to ensure the safety of students, they are only liable for foreseeable injuries proximately caused by the absence of adequate supervision.  (Francis v. Mount Vernon Board of Education).

 

  • In Minnesota, the United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit held that a school was not liable to a teacher who was injured when he attempted to stop a lunchroom fight.  The court reasoned that his lawsuit was preempted by the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act because it was an injury sustained while on the job.  (Ekblad v. Independent School District No. 625)

 

  • In Washington State, the United States District Court held that school officials did not violate the Fourth Amendment rights of a student by confiscating his cell phone for conducting a disciplinary investigation regarding the student’s forging of a permission slip.  The court reasoned that the confiscation was consistent with a reasonable school policy to take cell phones to prevent a student from contacting anyone while an investigation was ongoing.  (Rorvik v. Snohomish School District)

 

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Safety Law News for August 30, 2018

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  • In Florida, residents of Lake County approved a special school safety tax.  The tax of 75 cents for each $1,000 of taxable property value will help pay for school resource officers, mental-health counseling, early intervention efforts and other measures aimed at strengthening school safety.

 

  • In California, the legislature has sent three school safety bills to Gov. Brown’s desk.  AB 3205, requires that any school modernization project done with money from the state’s school facility bond program include locks that allow doors to classrooms and any room with an occupancy of five or more people to be locked from the inside.  AB 2888, amends the state’s existing “red flag” law to include school personnel.  AB 1747 expands the required elements of school safety plans to include procedures to respond to active shooter situations.

 

  • In Arkansas, police chiefs submitted recommendations to the Governor’s School Safety Commission.  One recommendation called on the commission to give schools training before they implement new security plans.
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Safety Law News for August 28, 2018

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  • In Michigan,  Midland City Council supported the special millage proposal for school safety that will appear on the Nov. 6 election ballot which would levy up to 0.4 mills — 40 cents per $1,000 of taxable value — raising $1.3 million.  The tax will support funding for a total of seven school resource officers that will be assigned to city and county schools.

 

 

  • In Pennsylvania,  the Woodland Hills School board voted unanimously to renew its SRO program despite vocal disagreement from protesters who believe police are abusing their children.  The Woodland Hills Superintendent stated. “I believe in school resource officers.”  The school board is also planning to amend discipline policy to emphasize new roles for the SROs and zero tolerance for students who attack an educator or fellow student.

 

  • In Delaware,  officials in Dover are assigning police officers, called school security monitors, to all of the schools in the Capital School District.  The school superintendent said, “Safety is really our primary concern.  It’s not our primary job, but it’s our primary responsibility.”  The whole program will cost $408,423 for the first year.
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Safety Law News for August 24, 2018

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  • In Georgia,  the Georgia Supreme Court held that Miranda warnings were not required when a juvenile, questioned in the principal’s office in front of the administrator, police, and a parent, admitted that he assaulted another student.  The court reasoned that the juvenile was not in custody.  And the court held that even when in custody Miranda does not apply when a person is encouraged to tell what they know by a parent. (State v. Daniell)

 

  • Nationally, a new study by The 74, an education research and advocacy organization, reports that legislators in at least 26 states have poured at least $950 million into school safety programs so far in 2018.  Most of the money was spent on security upgrades and school resource officers.  The study states that the increased funding represents a policy shift from reactions to past mass school shootings.

 

  • In North Dakota, state officials launched a statewide anonymous campus safety platform that will allow individuals to report suspicious behavior, threats and violence in every school via text messaging.  The school safety platform can be reached by texting “SAFE” to 82257 and drug crimes can be reported by texting “DRUGS” to 82257.

 

  • Nationally,  a Report by the Educator’s School Safety Network found that in the 2017-2018 school year, 11 states of most concern accounted for 36% of all threats and 42% of all incidents.  Nationally, there were at least 3,375 threats recorded, a 62% increase from the 2016-2017 school year. In the 2017-2018 school year, there were at least 279 incidents of violence, an increase of 113% from the 2016-2017 school year.