— In California, the California Court of Appeal held that a school had a duty to protect a middle school student from sexual abuse by its music instructor even without actual knowledge of prior abuse or propensity. The court reversed the dismissal of the case and remanded the lawsuit back to the trial court because, “(a)dministrators who fail to notice, identify, and respond to warning signs that suggest an employee is sexually abusing or will sexually abuse a student bear some moral responsibility for the abuse.” At trial, the issue will be, “whether the measures school district took to prevent sexual abuse of students and to supervise the music instructor and middle school student were reasonable…(because) “(a) school district that fails to reasonably supervise employees and students increases the likelihood that an employee will sexually abuse a student.” Doe v. Lawndale Elementary School District
— In Connecticut, the Norwich Board of Education unanimously supported a move to bring school resource police officers back to the its middle schools in response to increased disciplinary issues. The belief the Board is that, “(g)iven the climate in our schools, given the pandemic and the totality of what’s going on in our world today…the SROs belong back in our middle schools.”
— In Virginia, three proposals on school safety are being introduced in the legislative session. HB 8 would allow veterans with at least 10 years of active duty military service to be become a School Resource Officer (SRO). HB 12 would limit the number of entrances per school building and screen each person that enters the school. HB 37 would mandate an SRO for every high school and middle school and require that the SRO serve on the school’s threat assessment team.
— In Idaho, Lewiston Police Department School Resource Officers are promoting the new “See, Tell, Now!” app, which is an online tool that provides a means for anyone to report suspicious activity anonymously, to ensure safety at school.