— In Kentucky, the United States District Court dismissed the case of a teacher in a case involving a gun that was found in her possession. Applying the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the court characterized the case this way: “What happens, then, when two school employees suspect that their colleague is under the influence of prescription medication, search her bag without permission, and find a firearm inside? And what happens when school board officials find out and want to question the perpetrator? Has the Fourth Amendment been transgressed? The court held that the conduct of the employees (a registrar and a guidance counselor) was “conduct taken under color or pretense of state law” to which the constraints of the Fourth Amendment would apply. The court held that the teacher had right to privacy in her purse – a reasonable expectation of privacy – because her “bag is not part of the workplace context” and there was no school “policy that could have provided (the teacher) with any notice that her personal effects could be subjected to a search.” However, the court dismissed the lawsuit against the two school employees, applying qualified immunity to their conduct because “there exists no readily apparent precedent governing these facts… that an examination of a coworker’s bag under these circumstances would be held unconstitutional.” Therefore, “(b)ecause (the teacher) has failed to prove that her right to be free from a search in this specific context by two collegial peers is clearly established, (the school employees) are entitled to qualified immunity.” Lawson v. Creely
— In Illinois, “Waukegan School District 60 Superintendent of Schools Theresa Plascencia said in a letter to parents and staff that the school district has begun the year without the support of school resource officers (SROs) due to the lack of an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Waukegan.”
— In New Mexico, Officials in the Albuquerque Public Schools are implementing a Reunification Card Program to help “ease the wait in the unlikely event a school has to reunify students with parents/guardians in a non-typical end of the school day.” “The cards are unique to each student, with a name, bar code and instructions on the back for families to utilize if they have to pick up their student or students during a reunification process. Each family will receive two cards per student.”
— In Alabama, the Governor Kay signed HB 290 — the John Wesley Foster Act, “legislation that requires public schools to have a cardiac emergency response plan (CERP) in place that instructs people to dial 911, start CPR, and use an AED on campus and at school-sponsored athletic events in the case of a cardiac emergency.”