Safety Law News for August 28th, 2020

— In Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals ruled that school officials violated the rights of a student who was suspended from the cheerleading team for violating the personal conduct rules for cheerleaders.  The court ruled that the student, who posted a picture of herself with the caption “fuck cheer” to Snapchat, did not waive her First Amendment rights.  The court said that school officials did not have authority to punish speech that took place off campus and could not be reasonably interpreted as bearing the school’s imprimatur.  [B.L. by & through Levy v. Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist.]

— In Nebraska, the City of Lincoln and Lincoln Public Schools approved the continuation of the Safe and Successful Kids interlocal agreement that includes funding for school resource officers. The programs increases school security through three programming areas: Protective (SROs), preventative (mental health supports) and proactive (Community Learning Center before- and after-programs).

— In North Carolina, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education approved $2.5 million in contracts with the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office and Kernersville Police Department to provide school resource officers to middle schools and high schools.