School Safety Law Blog – Page 81 – News and Information for School Safety

Safety Law News for August 18, 2017

by Bernie James • August 18, 2017

In South Carolina, the school board for Horry County Schools replaced their school resource officer program after a budget struggle with the County Police Department. Armed security officers hired by U.S. Security Associates will replace the school resource officers.

In Colorado, juvenile justice agencies are preparing for the new sexting law that becomes effective January 1, 2018. The state law breaks sexting behavior into categories to weed out the less serious cases. The school resource officer can tell prosecutors which level of offense she believes a teen may have committed. That’s far more collaboration than police and prosecutors had before.

In Minnesota, the St. Paul school board, in a long standing debate over school safety policy, voted to reduce the number of school resource officers in its schools from nine to seven.

In Missouri, teachers in Christian County are being training in a new way of handling active-shooter situations in schools — the “run, hide, fight” technique.

In Minnesota, the Brainerd School Board is expanding its anti-bullying policy to cover school-sponsored student publications and productions. The new policy requires multiple oversight and reviews before publication and distribution.

Safety Law News for August 15, 2017

by Bernie James • August 15, 2017

In Texas, officials in Gregg County ponder responses to data on the increase of methamphetamine use and addiction. School resource officers used as educators and mentors are the primary tool being considered to help deter students from the use of drugs.

In Kentucky, the Kenton County Sheriff has pulled the school resource officers from Covington schools. The decision came in response to an agreement the school district reached with the Department of Justice on the school’s restraint policies. The agreement creates a new set of rules on the role of school resource officers.

In Florida, officials in Pinellas County are implementing new rules on student misconduct after parents complained about the lack of discipline.

In Maryland, state officials have enacted HB 1082. The Start Talking Maryland Act, requires public schools to stock naloxone, and have staff trained to use the overdose-reversal drug. It also mandates drug education include the dangers of powerful opioids.

Safety Law News for August 9, 2017

by Bernie James • August 9, 2017

In California, Salinas City Council member Tony Villegas speaks to the necessity of the local school resource officer program. “In my opinion, I believe a lot of [opponents] have been fed misinformation or don’t understand exactly what the city is trying to accomplish.” The Salinas Union School Board unanimously voted against a school resource officer program with the Salinas Police Department.

In Minnesota, the Minneapolis School Board agreed to continue the school resource officer program in its schools. All board members except one voted for a new contract for school resource officers. The Superintendent said, “I continue to feel like we are heading the right direction for our students and staff.”

In South Carolina, the school resource officers in Spartanburg are learning more about autism spectrum disorders, how to best communicate with students with autism and what tone and instructions work best for those students.

In Louisiana, teachers and administrators in Bastrop are asking whether the current policy strong enough for teachers to feel protected.

Safety Law News for August 4, 2017

by Bernie James • August 4, 2017

In a national study on safe schools, each state was ranked based on numerous factors. The states with the lowest percentage of injured and threatened students were Massachusetts, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. The jurisdictions with the lowest incidence of bullied students were the District of Columbia, Florida, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Delaware.

In New York, officials in New York City report that campus arrests fell 8 percent in the last school year and summonses dropped by 11 percent. However, the number of weapons found at schools increased, from 1,073 in the 2015-16 school year to 1,429. One parent group claims city officials low-balled serious misconduct, missing nearly 10,000 more school incidents.

In New York, the Jamestown City Council approved the additional school resource officer to have a total of three. The school district will be providing the funding for all three school resource officers.

In Louisiana, teachers and administrators in Bastrop are asking whether the current policy strong enough for teachers to feel protected.

Safety Law News for August 2, 2017

by Bernie James • August 2, 2017

In Tennessee, officials in Rutherford County are seeing a decrease in weapons-related offenses on campus. They say that students have developed relationships with school resource officers, making them feel comfortable with discussing weapons on campus.

In Wisconsin, the Madison School Board’s ad-hoc committee on Educational Resource Officers (EROs) is one-third of the way through its mandate process to make recommendations about the use of police in schools. So far, they have examined the role of EROs, racial discipline disparities and what happens if police are removed from the schools.

In North Carolina, Durham police officers will no longer teach the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) curriculum in Durham public schools. Most of the officers will remain on the campuses as School Resource Officers.

In Tennessee, the State Board of Education has put in place a set of emergency teacher discipline rules to keep teachers with prior misconduct from returning to the classroom as it considers more stringent rules for background checks and teacher discipline.

Safety Law News for July 28, 2017

by Bernie James • July 28, 2017

In Minnesota, the head of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office Juvenile Prosecution Division made a presentation in favor of keeping the SRO program. The data show that since 2006, the program produced a steady decline in school crime referrals in the last 10 years and improved the climate of the school campuses.

In Illinois, the Elgin City Council is moving ahead with the renewal of the SRO program. The sense in the community is that the SROs “working in our schools bring comfort to our students.”

In Ohio, the Ohio Court of Appeals ruled that a 13-year old seventh grader was in custody when he was questioned by an educator in the presence of a team of school resource officers during a campus lock-down in response to a bomb threat. The court found that the educator was acting as an agent of the police during the investigation and should have given Miranda warnings to the student. [In Re L.G.].

In Louisiana, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana upheld a search of a student by an educator. The teacher observed what he believed to be a hand-to-hand transaction between two students, one of whom was known to have issues with marijuana. The teacher asked the student to remove what he placed into his pocket and discovered marijuana. [State in Interest of K.L.]

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