— In New York, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, affirmed a lawsuit brought by a student who alleged that the school failed to notify law enforcement and other appropriate local agencies of sexual abuse by a teacher. The court ruled that the lower court properly refused to dismiss the case because, “a school, in assuming physical custody and control over its students, effectively takes the place of parents and guardians,” and “owes a common-law duty to adequately supervise its students.” Further, the court noted that, “discovery is necessary for a full disclosure,” of the actions of school officials who acknowledged the student’s complaints against the teacher, investigated the claims, and still failed to report as required by law. Visiko v. Fleming
— In Virginia, HB873H1 has been passed in the Virginia House of Delegates that would require every public school to have a school resource officer. The proposal provides that local school boards would be prevented from, “granting any school board a waiver from such requirement but permits the Board of Education to grant a partial waiver to allow the sharing of a single school resource officer or school security officer by two different public schools that (a) are adjoining or are within close proximity to each other and (b) share facilities such as parking.” The mandate is unfunded by the state, requiring each jurisdiction to cover the costs of deploying the police officers.
— In Nebraska, anonymous reports are on the rise with new Nebraska school safety hotline, Safe2Help Nebraska. The system allows students, staff and community members a way to anonymously report concerning behavior. Trained counselors receive the tip reports and gather as much information as they can. Reports about suicide are the most common, followed by bullying and drugs.
In Virginia, both houses of the legislature have approved HB4. The Governor has agreed to sign it, requiring schools to report misdemeanors that occur on school grounds. The law will remove the discretion schools had to report students to law enforcement for misdemeanor-level offenses. The provisions of the law will also require that parents receive notice when their children are victimized by unlawful behavior on campus.