– In California, the California Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a student who was shot in the head by a gun brought to his seventh grade science class by a fellow student. The lawsuit of the student argued that the school breached its duty to properly supervise its students on the day of the shooting. The appellate court agreed, holding that “even if the science teacher could not have foreseen that (the shooter) would bring a loaded gun to class, she had at a minimum a duty to observe what was happening in the classroom to discover and prevent aggressive, disorderly and dangerous behavior by students, which behavior was foreseeable.” The appellate court ruled that, “(v)iewing the evidence in the light most favorable to (the injured student)…supports an inference that (the shooter) was discussing and displaying the gun for more than a few fleeting seconds, and for enough time for others in the classroom, potentially including the teacher, to have seen and heard her. (W)e cannot agree with the trial court that as a matter of law events in the classroom unfolded so rapidly that supervisory personnel had no time to discover that (the student) had a gun and/or to respond.” On this claim the court concluded that, “(w)e reject LAUSD’s contention that we should affirm the trial court’s order on the alternate basis that LAUSD is immune from liability.” I.A. v. Los Angeles Unified School District
— In New York, officials for the Oswego City School District are switching back to the Oswego Police Department for its school resource officers after a short stint with the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office. Oswego city police had previously provided resource officers for the district and educators believe that, “long term, it probably won’t hurt that a local department is handling the local district.”
— In Arizona, the Arizona Department of Education is entering the fray over the issue of safe school in Phoenix. It announced that it will approve grants for armed school resource officers at six schools in the Phoenix Union High School District. The Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction also supports the return of police in the schools, saying that the reluctance of the local school board to keep schools safe is a concern. “The decision of the Phoenix Union governing board against armed law enforcement officers not only goes against the recommendation of their own safety committee, but is a slap to the leadership of those schools and to the classroom teachers association who called for SROs because safety is needed.”
— In Tennessee, the Governor has approved a new law that allocates $230 million for enhanced school safety, including $30 million to place school resource officers in every public school, $54 million toward security upgrades for public and private schools, $140 million to place Homeland Security agents in every county to coordinate school security responses, and $8 million to provide new school-based behavioral help staff.