— In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division held that an educator’s homeowners’ policy triggered a duty on the insurer to defend a personal injury action stemming from an incident where the staff member, fighting with another student, inadvertently hit another staff member. The insurer argued that it owed no duty to defend or indemnify the staff member in the personal injury action brought by her colleague. The court held that, “(the insurance company) contends that no coverage exists under the insurance policy because (the staff member) intended to cause physical harm to another person (other than the injured colleague). An insured, however, may be indemnified for an intentional act that causes an unintended injury.” Vermont Mutual Insurance Group v LePore
— In Pennsylvania, the Duquesne City School Board unanimously passed a resolution aimed at preventing school violence and increasing mental health support for students and families. The resolution acknowledges that, “the Duquesne City community has an unfortunate history of being a witness to gun violence, as such, the District understands the urgency and importance of school safety and security.” The Board declares that, “Evidence Based Intervention Strategies in the area of social, emotional, and mental health are critical preventive measures to reduce school violence and create greater psychological safety for all staff and students.”
— Nationally, therapy dogs are being deployed in schools. In Arkansas, Saline County school resource officers are bringing two K-9 therapy dogs to Saline schools. The dogs completed 14 weeks of training to become a Nationally Registered Therapy Dog Team. This means they are recognized for their abilities to be deployed in all kinds of situations that might require the services of a therapy dog. In Ohio, the North Canton Police Department approved its Community Canine Program and is beginning the search for a canine to be trained as a therapy dog for its schools.
— In Missouri, researchers at the University of Missouri are implementing an AI-based version of the Columbia Protocol to help identify and avert threats in schools. Using a $2 million grant from the Department of Justice, the researchers are partnering “with up to 26 rural school districts throughout Missouri, connect(ing) to the schools’ Wi-Fi servers to monitor online activity for threatening language or images.