— In Wisconsin, the United States District Court ruled that a school staff member is not entitled to qualified immunity for the use of excessive force against a student. In denying the motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by parents of the student who was forcibly removed from the classroom, the court held that “[i]t is well established that a school administrator or teacher cannot use excessive force against a student.” The court noted that “although the undisputed facts show that defendant’s initial decision to seize plaintiff and remove her from the classroom was reasonable,… [the student’s] allegations of punching, hitting and slamming her to the ground create a genuine issue of material fact.” Price v. Mueller-Owens
— In Maryland, officials in Prince George’s County have revised the role of school police based on recommendations from the county task force. While school resource officers will remain in schools, the other security team, called school security personnel will no longer have arresting powers. Data from the last two school years shows that most arrests were made by school security personnel. Specifically, they made 88% of the arrests in both school years, while SROs made only 12% of arrests.
— In Minnesota, the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District 191 School Board plans to renew its school resource officer program while the communities surrounding it (Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts) dismantle their programs. Begun in the late 1980s, the District 191 program provides its officers training in use-of-force, de-escalation, and speaking with juveniles (anti-bias) training.
— In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is telling its members not to report to school over the safety of school buildings. The City has appointed a neutral arbitrator to resolve the dispute.