Safety Law News for September 26, 2016

  • In Minnesota, the St. Paul School District is inviting the public to “get to know” its school resource officers.  Interviews with the officers are posted on its website.  The goal is getting the community to understand that officers have positive interactions with students on a daily basis.
  • In Texas, the Medina Independent School District has placed a sign on its campuses  of its intention to protect its students.  “Attention,” the sign reads. “Please be aware that the staff at Medina ISD may be armed and will use whatever force is necessary to protect our students.”

Safety Law News for September 21, 2016

  • In Missouri, school officials and police in St. Joseph attribute the significant decline in crime referrals to the presence of well-trained school resource officers.  During 2015, referrals dropped by over 60 percent to nearly 449 cases.
  • In Massachusetts, the Worcester school system will begin giving drug addiction screenings to students.  Called SBIRT, short for Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment, the screenings are intended to identify early warning signs of drug addiction in students, and refer those kids for additional help.

Safety Law News for September 15, 2016

Safety Law News for September 13, 2016

  • In Kansas, the Maize School District is implementing the “Run, Hide, Fight” safety policy. The procedure asks teachers to take a more assertive role in trying to survive, giving them the leeway to ignore lockdowns and run off campus with students or to unleash makeshift weapons against an intruder as a last resort.

Safety Law News for September 6, 2016

  • In Arizona, officials in Pima County are looking for policy solutions to the truancy epidemic.  One-fifth of Tucson-area juveniles are chronically truant.
  • In New Jersey, the Elmwood Park Board of Education is implementing a shared service plan with the Elmwood Park Police Department to utilize retired police officers as school security.

Safety Law News for September 2, 2016

• In Connecticut, the United States District Court ruled that no student rights were violated by a school policy that authorized a suspension after receiving a police report about the off-campus, non-school related arrest of a student for possession of drugs with intent to sell. [Chapman v. Ouellette]

• In Georgia, the United States Court of Appeals ruled that an assistant principal’s strip search of student was valid at its inception; but that forcing the student to strip until he was fully naked in front of his peers was unconstitutionally excessive in scope. The court held that the law was clearly established so that the educator was not entitled to qualified immunity. [D.H. by Dawson v. Clayton County School District]

• In Florida, the United States Court of Appeals ruled that the reasonable suspicion standard was applicable to the search of a party bus and students who rode to the school Prom. The student has no expectation of privacy in the party bus. The initial detention of students for breathalyzer testing was valid, but it was unreasonable for the educators to detain students as a group until all were breathalyzed – approximately forty-five minutes to an hour. [Ziegler v. Martin County School District]

• In Wisconsin, the Racine Unified School District is implementing a new, community-oriented policing model in its schools. The school resource officers are assigned to a specific campus. Each officer will receive training on conflict de-escalation, relating to students, understanding the teenage mind, and building trust.