Safety Law News for March 1, 2022

— In New York, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a student who alleged that the school failed to notify law enforcement and other appropriate local agencies of sexual abuse by a teacher.   The court ruled that the lower court properly refused to dismiss the case because of the actions of school officials who acknowledged the student’s complaints against the teacher, investigated the claims, and still failed to report as required by law.  BL Doe 7 v. Fleming

— In Iowa, Cedar Rapids schools are reporting a 70% drop in student arrests since changes to school resource officer program.  Both educators and school resource officers are implementing restorative justice principles.  Even so, as scholarship research predicted, even with a more than 70 percent reduction in student arrests, more Black students are being removed from campus than white students.

— In New York,  school officials in Green Island, a village in Albany County, moved to on-line virtual classes after a spate of violence in the schools.  Educators plan on adding a second school resource officer, QR codes to allow students to anonymously report bullying and stricter guidelines governing the use of hall passes and phones.

In New York, students in the Buffalo have been learning from home since a 14-year-old boy was stabbed and a security guard was shot.  When classroom learning resumes, every student will be searched by security guards using hand-held metal detectors until the gate-version metal detectors arrive.