— In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, held that school officials were not negligent in supervising students when a fourth-grade elementary school student was injured. The injury occurred during a lunch recess when a fellow student ran up to him from behind and pushed him, causing him to fall. The court affirmed the rule that “[s]chools are under a duty to adequately supervise the students in their charge and they will be held liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related to the absence of adequate supervision.” Even so, the court ruled that the incident occurred in such a short span of time that the most intense supervision could not have prevented it. I.S. v. Hempstead Union Free School District
— In New York, the legislature has introduced a policy that would require silent alarms to be installed in every public school in New York. Senate Bill S6237 would equip schools with panic alarms for use in an active-shooter situation with the goal of reducing the response time of emergency services and providing a covert method of contacting authorities. The alarm can be triggered remotely and discreetly via smartphone.
— In Pennsylvania, the School District of Philadelphia is implementing a program to partner district school safety officers with African American students at each school. Both male and female students will be assigned to mentors. The program is designed to help support the needs of the students through positive engagement with the officers.
— In Virginia, the Albemarle County Public Schools plan to spend $4 million dollars to upgrade and improve school security systems. The safety package includes a buzz-in camera system at the front entrance of each school as well as an electronic access badge system. The system will be programmed to keep a log of persons who enter buildings and will allow administrators to change access privileges.