— In New York, the New York Supreme Court ruled that school officials will be liable for injuries to students when the educators fail to follow their own safety rules. The court, in justifying its refusal to dismiss a lawsuit by a student injured during a class activity held that, “(w)hile defendants’ submissions established that the physical education teacher who supervised water polo had modified the typical rules thereof to prevent contact, defendants’ papers raise issues of fact whether those rules were enforced, the water polo game as modified was safe and age-appropriate, and the supervision of the game was reasonable under the circumstances.” Zalewski v. East Rochester Board of Education
— In Wisconsin, school resource officers in Oshkosh are using sensory bags when they respond to a scene involving an autistic student. The sensory bag contains items that may help calm down the student.
— In California, the San Jose Unified School District trustees are resuming the use of San Jose police officers to keep students safe. When confronted with the looming crisis of no security plan after a prior vote to end the district’s school resource officer (SRO) program, the trustees are now receptive to the urgings of the superintendents and campus administrators to – on a limited basis – bring back the police.
— In Indiana, the board for the South Bend Community Schools is implementing a new student code of conduct based on restorative justice principles. The new rules, “focus less on punishment and more on correcting behavior through instruction and conversation.” The teachers union is opposed to the new policy, stating that the rules are “not clear or concise enough for teachers to enforce or parents to understand.”