— In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, held that a school was not liable for injuries sustained by a student at the hands of a fellow student. The court ruled that “a school district acts in loco parentis with respect to its minor students, [and] owes a special duty to the students.” This duty requires that schools “adequately supervise the students in their care.” The court dismissed the lawsuit because the school took reasonable steps to prevent the fight. While the steps failed to prevent the incident, the court concluded that the school “cannot reasonably be expected to continuously supervise and control all movements and activities of students.” Wienclaw v. East Islip Union Free School District
— In Florida, the Florida Legislature is considering a proposal to allow counties and municipalities to install cameras in school speed zones and enforce speed limits. Schools support the legislation based on data that shows its school buses are illegally passed more than 400 times each day while children are getting on and off the buses.
— In Virginia, officials in the Albemarle County School District are planning to replace the police officers in its school safety program with “school safety coaches.” The new positions will require completion of the police-based school safety officer certification through the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. Even so, the coaches will neither be armed nor have the authority to arrest.
— In Missouri, the Hannibal Public Schools have revised their anti-bullying program to make greater use of the Courage2Report App to report, document, and act upon incidents of bullying. When a student uses the app, officials immediately get an email and take action. Data compiled by the State of Missouri shows that students in rural areas are 15.5% more likely to be bullied than students in urban areas.