— In Missouri the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed that school officials were liable for the injuries of a student who was struck by a passing car after unloading from a school bus. The incident occurred when a substitute driver, left uninformed about the proper drop-off location, stopped the school bus at the wrong location. This required students “to cross two lanes of traffic.” A car struck a nine-year-old fourth-grade student and fled from the scene. The jury awarded the student $1.3 million in damages. The appellate court held that the rule of law is that, “to prevail on a negligence claim, the plaintiff must establish (1) the defendant owed a duty to him or her; (2) the defendant breached that duty; (3) causation; and (4) “injury” or “actual damages.” Negligence occurred because, “providing school bus drivers sufficient information as to its students’ designated school bus stops, such as via the route sheet, was necessary to protect (students) from injury.” The school argued that the “passing car driver’s conduct was an intervening cause breaking the causal connection between (student’s) injuries and (school’s) negligence. The court disagreed. The duty of the school “arose from the bus contract, by its own conduct, and its requirement to exercise due care to avoid foreseeable injury.” As such, “the passing car driver’s conduct is not an intervening cause breaking the causal connection between (student’s) injuries and (school’s) negligence.” Jackson v. First Student, Inc.
— In Washington State, the Seattle Superintendent has announced more rigorous policies to maintain campus safety. These include: (1) Increasing SPS security and neighborhood safety organization patrols around buildings; (2) Requiring students to wear identification badges on campus; (3) Requiring clear backpacks by all students; (4) Closing campuses for lunch to keep students from venturing into the community. The changes come in response to the death of Garfield High School Junior Amarr Murphy-Paine to gun violence.
— In Alabama, school officials are planning to deploy metal detectors on campuses after an incident in January 2024 in which “a student at Leflore High School … opened fire in the hallway, shooting two students.”
— In North Carolina, the Pitt County School Board is mandating naloxone use in schools “to combat overdoses on its campuses.” Officials says that, “first responders and school resource officers have already been allowed to carry Narcan…the new policy extends that to nurses and others who could not administer the medicine without a school board policy.”