— In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, affirmed a ruling that refused to dismiss a case involving the off-campus suicide of a student because school officials “failed to establish that (the student’s) suicide was not a reasonably foreseeable consequence of their alleged negligence.” The appellate court found that the student “had a lengthy history of enduring bullying by other students, which included being called various derogatory names, threatened with physical harm, and mocked for the tics he exhibited as a result of Tourette’s syndrome…(and that) instances when (the student) would purportedly respond physically to the bullying (he) would then receive discipline and other sanctions…(and that)…complaints were not taken seriously or adequately addressed.” Therefore, school officials were not immune from potential liability on “the fact that (the student’s) death by suicide occurred off school premises and during summer vacation.” Spring v. Allegany-Limestone Centra. School District
— In Michigan, the Tecumseh Public Schools are “working on joining the Adrian and Madison schools in having a service dog to work with their school resource officer. Adrian’s SRO, Joshua Perry, has pioneered the program, which uses a non-aggressive dog that can do some typical police dog tasks, such as sniffing out contraband or searching for people, but also be available for therapeutic needs of students and staff.”
— In Minnesota, the Governor signed a bill into law “clarifying the authority of school resource officers (SROs).” The bill, Chapter 78, defines school resource officers, requires they receive training, and clarifies the authority they have to restrain students.
— In Ohio, officials in Jefferson County are responding to a campus incident involving a weapon discovered in the high school by “implementing a new backpack policy and adding a metal detector, which will have students checked for potential weapons or unwanted products.”