– In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by former students of a former teacher who sexually abused them over a period of years. The teacher took only male students with him on fishing trips and teacher was seen driving in his car only with male students. The court ruled that the school district did not know nor should it have known of former teacher’s propensity to sexually abuse children. Educators deemed him to have an excellent reputation and did not have any complaints about his behavior. He received positive reviews from other school districts as part of his employment application. And many teachers interacted with students outside of school because of the small community. No rumors about the teacher involved instances of sexual abuse. Dolgas v. Wales
— In Florida, the former Parkland High School principal calls for mental health wellness centers in every school. Five years after the shooting at his former school, the administrator says that, “(t)hat’s just the state that we’re in and we need to keep tabs on what’s happening with our youth to make sure that if there are problems, we can catch them early.”
— In Oklahoma, the Governor signed Senate Bill 100, which will require each school district to undergo a risk and vulnerability assessment by the Oklahoma School Security Institute. The new law goes into effect July 1. Legislators found that, “we need to create a uniform system of safety standards and protocols to ensure all our students and staff are fully protected.”
— In Ohio, officers for the West Chester Township Police Department are training students in the school district on self-defense tactics. The defensive tactics class has been taught to high schoolers for the past 10 years. Police said students are put in some of the most uncomfortable situations in hopes they’ll be able to carry it with them far beyond high school.