Safety Law News for February 28, 2020

• In Connecticut, the Supreme Court of Connecticut upheld a liability verdict against educators for the failure to properly supervise students.  An elementary school student was assaulted by other students while they were on the playground during the lunchtime recess.  The court ruled that persons who were assigned to monitor the students on the playground during recess were not properly trained.  The court also held that one student intern and three or four staff members were not enough to exercise control over as many as 400 students on the playground. (Osborn v. City of Waterbury)

• In Pennsylvania, hundreds of parents in the Pine-Richland School District have signed a petition demanding armed school resource officers as a means to improve the safety and security of the schools.

• In Indiana, the legislature is considering the creation of a School Resource Officer Report that will mandate school corporations and charter schools to annually report on the presence of school resource officers to the Department of Homeland Security.

• In Rhode Island, the Providence City Council has sent a resolution to the Rhode Island Department of Education requesting the replacement of its school resource officers with school counselors.  The Governor has also asked the legislature to put aside SRO funding for mental health staff in her 2021 budget proposal.