• In Nebraska, to combat vaping, officials in the Fairbury Public School District will begin randomly testing students for nicotine. Educators noticed an alarming increase in students sneaking puffs of e-cigarettes: in locker rooms, restrooms and elsewhere on school grounds. Now all students who participate in extracurricular activities will be subject to random nicotine testing.
• In Michigan, the U. S. District Court held that parents of a seven-year-old child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were entitled to sue a school resource officer and the City for placing the child in handcuffs in response to a disability-induced episode. The court held that liability is appropriate when police fail to train its officers on appropriately interacting with juveniles who may have a disability. Intentional discrimination may be inferred from the likelihood that inadequate training will result in a violation of federally protected rights. (McCadden v. City of Flint)
• In Arizona, school resource officers are required to undergo new training on de-escalation and crisis intervention with students. The requirement is due, in part, to a tweet by a state lawmaker to the Governor to say that when she was 14 years old she was assaulted by a school resource officer who “was there to ‘keep me safe.’”
• In North Dakota, officials in Stark County are revising the duties of the school resource officers in the Richardton-Taylor, Gladstone, Lefor, Belfield and South Heart schools. The officers will be involved in their assigned community as well as their assigned schools. The officers will attend commission meetings, events, and anything that’s community-oriented. They will also run sex offender checks, and every week, they will take turns helping with 24/7, a court-ordered drug and alcohol program.