School Safety Law Blog – Page 96 – News and Information for School Safety

Safety Law News for December 2, 2015

by Bernie James • December 2, 2015

In Tennessee, the Winchester School Board has approved a computer-based system that will scan IDs to ensure student safety, but how necessary the move is has now come into question.

In Illinois, school officials in Edwardsville have created a Crime Scene Investigation Lab Project for high school students. The CSI Lab is a cooperative effort of school resource officers and the Science Department. In Iowa, a similar CSI program is underway in the Pleasant Hill schools.

In Kentucky, the police chief of Louisville has posted a letter sent to school officials setting forth what school resource officers can and can’t do at schools.

In Minnesota, the outgoing chairwoman of the St. Paul Board of Education is questioning the value of police officers in the city’s high schools. The Board has agreed to conduct a survey about the issue.

Safety Law News for November 24, 2015

by Bernie James • November 24, 2015

New York City officials reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by students who argued NYPD school resource officers used excessive and inappropriate force. The city will pay $54,000 to the four former students who brought the case.

The New York City Department of Education announced they are installing 21,000 audible door alarms at New York City schools under the provisions of “Avonte’s Law.” The law, the local version of which was signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Congressional version (SB 163) by President Obama, mandates the placement of audible alarms in public schools to warn education officials if a student tries to leave the building.

In Wisconsin, the legislature is considering two bills that call for all public high schools, as well as those in the choice and charter school programs, to report school crime data. The data would be included on each school’s report card, which also contains test scores, graduation rates and demographic information.

In Texas, the Texas School Safety Center has joined forces with the Texas Education Agency to help schools combat bullying. The focus is on a new program called Girls Inc., which helps female students learn more about how to handle tough situations.

Safety Law News for November 20, 2015

by Bernie James • November 20, 2015

In Rochester, New York, forty-one teachers have been assaulted since September. The year before that it was 13. The teachers are making an appeal before the Rochester City School District board to voice concerns about their safety, as well as the safety of their students. It is the restorative justice discipline policy that is the problem.

In Oregon, Albany school officials and local Police plan to revise the school resource officer program in the midst of a national discussion about the proper role of SROs.

In South Carolina, the State Superintendent has established a statewide Safe Schools Taskforce. The goal of the group is to establish best practice for student discipline and training for educators on school resource officers on how to ensure a safe environment.

In Oregon, the Oregon Task Force on School Safety released its report containing strategies to more effectively respond to school violence and active-shooter situations. Recommendations include school tip lines, access to school floor plans and a state-funded statewide threat assessment system to identify and help students who present a potential risk for violence.

Safety Law News for November 13, 2015

by Bernie James • November 13, 2015

In South Carolina, state lawmakers and educators are considering mandatory School Resource Officer training.

In Wyoming, the Teton County School District, is partnering with PublicSchoolWORKS to use its’ EmployeeSafe and StudentWatch management systems to report and track both positive and negative student behaviors.

In California, the Bear Valley Unified School District released a student survey that indicates that the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Program is working to improve the school climate. In 2010, for example, 47 percent of students said they felt safe or very safe at school. By 2014 that number had risen to 67 percent.

In New York City, school officials reported an increase in weapons in city schools. 462 weapons were confiscated in and around campus in a four-month period.

Safety Law News for November 10, 2015

by Bernie James • November 10, 2015

In Virginia, the Bristol City Public School District plans to have SROs in every school by 2016.

In Colorado, officials say that keeping drugs out of schools has become a real challenge. Alcohol, marijuana and prescriptions pills continue to be the top three abused substances seen in schools.

In New York, officials in the Orchard Park and Hamburg school districts are training faculty and staff to protect students in active-shooter scenarios.

Motorola will provide $420 million in interest-free financing to enable school to communicate more directly with first responders to emergencies. Grants from the SchoolSafetyFund will allow governments and school districts to buy equipment provided by SchoolSafe Communications, which produces Web-enabled, two-way radio-based systems that allow greater and faster links between school and public safety radio systems.

Safety Law News for November 3, 2015

by Bernie James • November 3, 2015

In Maryland, Montgomery County becomes one of the first jurisdictions in the state to outfit school resource officers with body cameras.

Nationally, the video of a school resource officer pulling a female student out of her desk at Spring Valley High in Columbia, South Carolina is raising questions about the role of SROs.

In North Carolina, New Hanover County officials entered into what is being called the “Inter-Agency Governance Agreement on the Handling of School Offenses.” The agreement brings the county’s schools, law enforcement, justice system, government and other community partners together to provide a consistent policy regarding student discipline.

In Virginia, a chemistry lab fire that injured five students and a teacher at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax County has led to questions about the safety of the experiment that was being demonstrated in this classroom. The problem appears to be improper training, complacency, and lack of knowledge in an otherwise safe school setting.

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