— In Illinois, the Appellate Court of Illinois affirmed the conviction of a parent for criminal trespass for “profanity towards staff and threats towards staff that violated school board policy.” The superintendent informed the parent – by mail, by email, and by hand-delivery – that “because of her repeated violations of school board policy, she was required to provide 48 hours’ notice to the school building principal or district administrator of her intent to enter school grounds and to receive permission from the principal or administrator before entering, unless she was dropping off or picking up her children.” The parent was arrested after attempting to attend a school event without the required 48 hours’ notice. The parent argued that “the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she received notice that she was not to enter (the school) without permission.” The appellate court affirmed the conviction of the parent, ruling that knowledge “may be inferred from circumstantial evidence, and such inferences are within the province of the fact-finder.” The court observed that the parent responded to other informational emails concerning her children and school events such that, “it is reasonable to infer, as the trial court did, that (the parent) … also received (notice) that she was forbidden from entering school grounds without permission.” “After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we find that a rational fact-finder could conclude (the parent) received, and knew she received, the no-trespass notice.” People v. Ward
— In Oregon, the legislature is proposing a panic alarm requirement for all schools. (House Bill 3083). The proposal would require school districts across the state to install panic alarm systems to improve emergency response times in schools.
— In Rhode Island, over two hundred educators from the Woonsocket School District told policymakers that they feel unsafe. “We, the educators of the 11 public schools in the city … want you to see us and hear us … We want to be safe. Woonsocket educators and the School District have a disagreement right now, but our history has been more collaborative in the past. We’ve had an increased number of dangerous situations in the schools, and we’ve reached out to the Woonsocket Education Department to resolve the problem. Our request was met with silence, no email response, and almost no discussion of possible solutions. … This was a solvable dispute.”
— In West Virginia, officials in the Roane County Schools are installing transparent security film to windows at the high school and middle school. The film will help prevent break-ins and slow down intruders.