— In Oregon, the United States District Court certified a class-action lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Education brought by parents of special needs students to challenge a form of blue-slipping school discipline. “Blue-slipping” identifies a widespread practice in which schools, under pressure to keep reported suspension rates low, send disruptive students home informally. Schools justify this practice for many reasons, not least because of insufficient support personnel to oversee and correct disruptive student behaviors. The federal court ruled that the parents could sue the state on behalf of all students with disabilities aged 3 to 21 who had been subjected to a shortened school day or were at substantial risk of being subjected to a shortened school day due to their disability-related behaviors. J.N. v. Oregon Department of Education
— In Florida, members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office received training to help communicate with students with autism. The training emphasizes recognizing the unique challenges that confront autistic children, the best ways to interact, and traits that can help avoid miscommunication.
— In Maryland, the General Assembly is considering legislation that would increase the qualifications necessary to serve as a school resource officer. House Bill 522, will require a school resource office or school security employee to meet heightened qualifications, require the Maryland Center for School Safety to develop a specialized curriculum, including educators in the curriculum, and establish a complaint process for students and parents.
— In Maryland, parents, students and educators in the Charles County Public Schools have given their School Resource Officer program strong support, with 90% of respondents saying the presence of SROs is either extremely important or important to them. According to the survey, 72.97% said it was extremely important to have SROs assigned to schools; 17.43% said it was important. A little over 6% of the 5,627 respondents — which included students, parents, school system staff and community members — said it wasn’t needed.