— In New York, the Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a case brought by parents of a student upon whom a teacher fell and injured. The injury occurred when the teacher “started sending the children back to their seats, and as she went to hand out papers, she lost her footing and tripped over one of their feet.” The court stated that the rule of law is clearly established, that, “(t)he duty of care owed by a school to a student derives from the simple fact that a school, in assuming physical custody and control over its students, effectively takes the place of parents and guardians.” The court ruled that it is 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.” However, the rule of law makes an important exception for injuries that occur in incidents that happen “in so short a span of time that even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it.” Therefore, the court affirmed the lower court ruling that, “lack of supervision is not a proximate cause of the injury in this case.” K.L. v. City of New York
— In Colorado, the Denver Police Department hosted a round-table with School Resource Officers to discuss the return of SROs in schools in this fall. The officers “have recently completed the 40-hour National Association School Resource Officers Basic training, which fulfills Colorado POST training requirements. Moreover, they have received other training that is beneficial for their work in schools, including de-escalation techniques, effective communication with youth, conflict resolution, crisis intervention, and a well-defined decision-making model.”
— In Indiana, the Northeast Sullivan Schools have created their own in-house police department. The Superintendent says that, “(w)e decided to establish our own department so we did not have to contract with a separate company. This gives us control on who we hire and have the same people each day.” Other school districts (more than 40) are also creating in-house police departments in the state.
— In Tennessee, House Bill 7023 proposes a new state-wide policy that would allow law enforcement to deploy an SRO even if the school district does not want them. The bill stipulates “if a local board of education has not entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a law enforcement agency to assign a school resource officer at each school within the local board of education’s control, then a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction may assign at least one (1) law enforcement officer to serve as a school resource officer at the school.” HB7023 is part of a special legislative session on public safety.