— In Kentucky, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, affirmed the denial of immunity to a teacher who failed to report bullying in her class. The appellate court said that “(t)he application of qualified immunity rests not on the status or title of the officer or employee, but on the function performed. …Specifically, the analysis depends upon classifying the particular acts or functions in question in one of two ways: discretionary or ministerial.” In other words, “qualified immunity does not protect one who negligently performs, or fails to perform, a ministerial duty (which) is absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely execution of a specific act arising from fixed and designated facts.” Immunity was denied to the teacher because under Kentucky law, “a special relationship is formed between a Kentucky school district and its students compelled to attend school such that there is an affirmative duty on the district, its faculty, and its administrators to take all reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm to its students.” Newman v. J.A.
— In Missouri, the St. Charles County Council is planning to add school resource officers to elementary schools for the 2022-23 school year. Officers are already in the high schools and most middle schools. Using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the officials will provide 14 additional officers at no cost to the districts.
— In Oklahoma, the Governor has issued an executive order focusing on boosting security in schools. In the executive order, a six-point plan directs schools to assess safety. The directive includes training for law enforcement and behavioral training for teachers.
— In Oklahoma, an investigation by the Norman Public Schools Superintendent and Norman Police Department revealed the failure of educators at a local high school to protect students who were victims of graffiti inside a bathroom containing their names. Along with the names were racial slurs, homophobic slurs, and the declaration, “Shooting up this damn place 2/28/2022.” The graffiti drew public attention after a teacher leaked photos of the graffiti to a parent. The whistle-blowing teacher was fired. According to the investigation, educators began cleaning up the graffiti before the school could document the writings and before the police had a chance to look at it. Police didn’t know about the racial slurs or shooting threat until a reporter reached out to the department with the photos.