— In Texas, the United States Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by parents whose special needs child was seized by the neck, thrown to the floor, and held in a choke hold by a teacher. The court affirmed that the teacher did not violate substantive due process, and thus was entitled to qualified immunity because, “(t)he facts alleged simply do not suggest that (the student) was the subject of a random, malicious, and unprovoked attack, which would justify (liability).” The court emphasized that here the conduct of the teacher occurred “in a disciplinary context,” after the student hit the teacher. “(W)e have consistently dismissed substantive due process claims when the offending conduct occurred in a disciplinary, pedagogical setting.” T.O. v. Fort Bend Independent School District
— In Iowa, the school board for the Ames Community School District voted unanimously to end its school resource officer program for the 2022-23 school year, following years of intense community discussion over how the presence of police impacts students.
— In Massachusetts, the Worcester City Council adopted a resolution to revise its school resource officer program. The officials do not intend to eliminate the presence of police in schools. The goal is to implement a “school liaison” model in which officers are assigned to quadrants in the schools for entry and dismissal times.
— In New York, the Kingston Board of Education is implementing major revisions to its school resource officer program. The officers, from the Kingston city and Ulster town police departments, will not be involved in the discipline of students. The officers will not be allowed to serve non-school warrants while on school property. The officers will discontinue wearing formal traditional police uniforms.