— In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division reversed a lower court and dismissed a lawsuit brought by parents whose daughter was sexually assaulted by another student while they were alone in a classroom. The court agreed that schools “will be held liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related to the absence of adequate supervision,” but ruled that there was no evidence of any prior misconduct similar to the assault that would put educators on notice. The assailant’s disciplinary history consisted of attendance issues, academic problems, insubordination, verbal outbursts, drug and alcohol possession and use, and sale of drugs. Knaszak v. Hamburg Central School District
— In California, the school board for the Folsom Cordova Unified School District unanimously renewed the school resource officer program for their 33 schools. A prior vote of the board to eliminate the contract with the police, was reversed after revisions were made to the agreement to address transparency and accountability issues.
— In North Carolina, the Wake County Public Schools will sue Juul Labs, alleging harmful health effects of the company’s vaping products on students. The decision comes just after the announcement of the $40 million settlement between the Juul Labs and the State of North Carolina in July 2021.
— Nationally, a survey from Safe and Sound Schools reports a gap between parents and administrators in perceptions of school safety. The results of the survey, which was conducted among district administrators, public safety staff, students, teachers, and parents, suggest that administrators are significantly more confident than parents in schools’ safety policies and procedures.