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.

Safety Law News for August 30, 2016

  • In California, the Kern High School District in Bakersfield has a new policy that allows non-employee concealed carry permit holders to bring guns on its campuses.  The policy will require the individual to sign up for a $1 million liability insurance coverage plan.
  • In Texas, the Court of Appeals ruled that that questioning of a student by a principal does not, as a general rule, rise to the level of custodial interrogation.  Therefore, the statutory warnings required by section 51.095 of the Texas Juvenile Justice Code did not apply. [In the Matter of C.R.M.]

Safety Law News for August 26, 2016

  • In New York, the York Central School District is implementing the Rapid Responder technology platform in an effort to strengthen their safety and emergency preparedness.

Safety Law News for August 23, 2016

  • In North Carolina, the Brunswick County school board has voted unanimously to add naloxone to the schools’ emergency kits as a precautionary measure. Naloxone can reverse the effects of an overdose of opioids such as heroin or painkillers.
  • In Georgia, Gwinnett County officials report that the number of disciplinary hearings rose from 1,289 during the 2014-15 school year to 1,588 during the 2015-16 school year.  The biggest increase was for allegations of student indecency, such as sharing sexually explicit material or inappropriately touching a classmate.

Safety Law News for August 16, 2016

  • In Ohio, the Stow-Munroe Falls School District is implementing a new visitor management system.  The system requires visitors to have their state or federal identification scanned. It checks the identification against a national database of registered sex offenders. It can also be set to check other databases created by school officials.
  • In Florida, the students at Tampa Bay schools are bringing weapons.  Florida Department of Education data showed 788 weapons were recovered in the Tampa Bay schools during a two-year period from 2013-2015. That’s an average of 2.2 incidents per day.
  • In New York City, officials have modified the plan to eliminate all suspensions of disruptive grammar school students (K-second grade).  Instead of the requirement that limits discipline to alternative solutions, such as counseling, the new guidelines allow for suspensions if a student has already been removed from the classroom three times during a semester or twice during a trimester.
  • In Kansas, school officials in the Maize Unified School District have adopted the “Run, Hide, Fight” crisis response plan for faculty, staff, and students.  The plan urges people confronted by a shooter to assess the situation and respond accordingly, either by escaping to a safe place, taking cover, or attempting to disarm the intruder, using improvised weapons if that’s their only option.