Safety Law News for November 21, 2016

  • In Washington State, a coalition of the community petitioned Spokane Public Schools to revise the district’s use-of-force policy earlier this month, expressing concerns the policy was too similar to the Spokane Police Department’s.
  • In Tennessee, Madison County Juvenile Court officials want the schools to decrease the number of referrals of minor matters that should be handled through the school disciplinary process.

Safety Law News for November 9, 2016

  • In Arkansas, officials in the Little Rock School District have made the decision to pull all officers from its elementary schools.  In its place is a new mobile security system that allows officers to drive to multiple schools to do security checks, instead of being stationed at each elementary school.
  • In Pennsylvania, the Safe Schools Initiative Targeted Grant program has awarded $6.5 million in grants for the training and compensation of school resource officers and school police officers, and to prevent and reduce violent incidents through programs and security equipment.

Safety Law News for November 1, 2016

  • In Rhode Island, school officials have signed an “improved” agreement with the Pawtucket Police Department modifying the School Resource Officers Program. The new MOU was prompted by an incident when an SRO was videotaped tackling two students in the school.
  • In Iowa, school buses in Des Moines with lap and shoulder belts will transport students as part of a new Iowa Department of Education study. The study comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommended that seat belts be added to school buses.
  • In Georgia, teachers in Clayton County are asking how safe are teachers in schools after a teacher was assaulted and slammed to the ground by a student.

Safety Law News for October 25, 2016

  • In Idaho, educators in Jefferson County are implementing a new emergency crisis policy based on the national “I Love U Guys” response protocol.
  • In Minnesota, Shakopee administrators have replaced D.A.R.E., the long-running school standard for substance abuse education, in favor of their own program, “COPS, Community Outreach by Police for Students.”

Safety Law News for October 20, 2016

  • In Connecticut, the New Haven “Project Youth Court” is succeeding in a restorative justice approach that uses a volunteer group of high school students to determine a sentence for their peers.

Safety Law News for October 17, 2106

  • In Alaska, the Association of Alaska Schools Boards has released its 2015 School Climate and Connectedness Survey.  The survey measures how students and staff view their school climate, how connected students feel to adults and peers, and student risk behaviors at school or school events.
  • In New York City, a female student showed up to a Queens high school with 15 nickel bags of marijuana and a scale in her backpack — but she was let off with just a summons.
  • In South Dakota, Sioux Falls school officials are implementing new building access policies to make sure students are safe in the early morning before the start of the regular school day.