— In Louisiana, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, affirmed the liability of school officials for “having actual knowledge of the actions of (a student) toward multiple students, and their failure to take the appropriate disciplinary actions.” The case involves a student who “was sexually molested by (another student) on the school bus. This happened on numerous occasions while riding the school bus … as well as on school property.” The appellate court agreed with the lower court that “the correct standard of liability regarding the liability of a school board for the actions of its students (is one of) a duty of reasonable supervision over students.” In practical terms this standard is a basis for liability when there is “proof of negligence in providing supervision and also proof of a causal connection between the lack of supervision and the accident.” Foreseeability is a dispositive component for liability such that “before a school board can be found to have breached the duty to adequately supervise the safety of students, the risk of unreasonable injury must be foreseeable, constructively or actually known, and preventable if a requisite degree of supervision had been exercised.” Affirming the finding of liability was supported by the facts that “following two incidents where the authorities could have recommended expulsion and it could be argued that expulsion was mandatory on those offenses, (the student) went on to assault two more students to which (school officials) again did not follow the (school policy).” Travasos v. Lafayette Parish School Board
— In Florida, “Broward public schools apologized for the chaos on the first day of school caused by metal detectors that created delays as hundreds of high school students were left standing in 85 degree weather waiting to enter schools… Metal detectors were installed in all 32 of Broward’s high schools this year as a safety measure.”
— In Oklahoma, “officials from Oklahoma City Public Schools are asking parents to get their children ready for school by knowing the basics, including their bus route and who to call in an emergency.”
— Nationally, a survey of community preferences on school safety by Eagle Eye Networks discloses that “96% of parents want schools to share security camera feeds with police during emergencies.” The survey, of 1,034 K-12 parents in the United States, was conducted between May 26 and June 5, 2024. “More than half (56%) of the more than 1,000 parents of K-12 students who were surveyed said they prefer a federal camera-sharing mandate, while 29% wanted a community-level requirement, and 11% favored a district mandate. Additionally, taxes to pay for school camera sharing has bipartisan support, with 93% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans saying they support such a tax.”