— In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, affirmed the dismissal of a case brought by parents of a student who committed suicide. Prior to his death, the student placed a post on social media, declaring that he had been bullied and threatened to take his life. Another student, who read the post, reported its contents to a teacher. The teacher did not report the information to administrators until after the student’s death. The court ruled that, “generally, the duty of care does not extend beyond school premises. Exceptions to this rule are rare, and tend to involve incidents that are connected to or flow from activities that occur on school premises.” Therefore, since, neither the student’s death by suicide nor social media exchange occurred within “the orbit of the district’s authority… the (school) established that their duty to adequately supervise the (student) did not encompass taking steps to prevent his suicide.” Hauburger v. McMane
— In Kentucky, the school safety team in Knox County is revising and training an updated threat assessment process. The team, including school resource officers, “studied the pathway to violence and the warning signs that they should be looking for.” Special emphasis was placed on the fact that “the primary objective of a student threat assessment should be providing a student with help and working to ensure positive outcomes for the student and the community.”
— In Washington State, school officials in Yakima are looking to provide resources for students who are coming to campus under the influence of drugs. The school resource officers are observing that “overdoses are happening at schools and most staff aren’t trained on how to help.” Legislation was passed to lower Narcan costs, increase its availability and offer training to school staff.
— In Virginia, officials in the Henrico County Public Schools will begin deploying metal detectors after a loaded gun was found in a student’s backpack in a middle school. The superintendent announced that, “enough is enough,” and that ‘trained staff will lead students, employees and visitors through free-standing detectors and/or screen them with hand-held metal detecting wands.” The school district will also deploy “new weapon detection technology currently being used at some professional sports stadiums and other venues.”