— In Louisiana, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana upheld the conviction of a teacher for simple battery, occurring when the teacher retaliated against a nine-year old special needs student who swung his backpack into the air, striking the teacher in the face. The teacher cornered the student in a hallway, fussing at the student while shoving his head. The teacher, then “grab(bed) the student by the backpack strap, preventing him from fleeing.” The court affirmed the conviction because, the retaliation occurred after class. “(T)here was a cooling off period. That was an intentional move to go over there and touch that child at that point. That child was out of her custody, out of her control and in the control of another teacher.” The court agreed with the lower court that, “special needs teachers get attacked in the classroom all the time. Unfortunately, that is a risk of the job because of the kids mental state.” State v. Freeman
— In Texas, law enforcement authorities in Wichita Falls, have arrested seven former and current school officials from the City View Independent School District for failure to make child abuse reports as required by Texas law. “Court documents state the investigation focuses on the persistent failures of the educators “to make the legally required reports of information they possessed about possible sexual misconduct (by a City View ISD teacher/coach that) enabled the teacher/coach to remain employed by the district and have continued access to students from 2014 to 2022.”
— In Illinois, officials from the Chicago Public Schools “say they are working on plans to address issues of violence” near the end of the school day and after school. In 2022, “nine children 17 years old or younger were killed on a weekday between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.” “The Chicago Teachers Union sent a letter…to the school district demanding to bargain over issues of violence, citing a contract provision that holds CPS responsible for safe and healthy working conditions. Among other things, the union wants “stronger and clear” protocols for the day of a shooting and the next day.”
— In North Carolina, the Iredell County Drug-Alcohol Coalition is implementing an array of prevention strategies to “combat illegal drugs as well as prescription drug misuse” by county residents and especially children. The Coalition’s programs and interventions are designed to “help educate and build relationships with youths” to combat substance misuse disorder and overdoses. The strategies include mentoring by school resource officers, use of drug-sniffing K-9s in schools and school sponsored events, programs at the Sheriff’s Teen Academy and dissemination of a drug prevention trailer on the Internet.