— In Michigan, the United States District Court upheld the expulsion of a student for making a threatening remark about a gun while on campus. The student “made a remark about a gun to several other students…At least four students perceived the remark as a threat and reported it to their parents and (school officials).” The shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, in which 5 students were killed, had occurred one week earlier. School officials, based upon the disciplinary history of the student, “referred him to the Board for an expulsion hearing.” The student argued, inter alia, that school officials violated the Fourth Amendment when searching his person, backpack, and school locker. The student also alleges that he was expelled “without due process in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.” The court held that as to the Fourth Amendment, school officials “do not need probable cause to justify a search of a student at its inception. Indeed, recognizing the difference between school and law enforcement officials, the Supreme Court describes the lesser standard to justify school searches as a moderate chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing… Only unreasonable seizures violate the Fourth Amendment. Like searches, seizures are unreasonable if they are unjustified at their inception or unreasonable in scope.” As to the Fourteenth Amendment and due process, the court explained that substantive due process requirements are violated “when discretionary government action is arbitrary and capricious, willful and unreasoning, conscience-shocking, or extremely irrational.” Procedural process requirements are violated when a student shows that an expulsion occurs “without adequate process…(e.g.) when the individuals responsible for deciding whether to deprive a person of his interest are biased.” The court dismissed the claims. School officials “reasonably searched and seized” the student. And no “reasonable juror” could conclude that (the student’s) expulsion shocks the conscience.” Finally, “there is no convincing evidence in the record to support (the student’s) claim that the CCPS School Board prejudged him.” The court opined that, the “Oxford shooting heightened the severity of student threats involving firearms at nearby Michigan public schools.” Halasz v. Cass City Public Schools
— In Washington, D.C., the U. S. Department of Education “released guidance to ensure that students in unsafe public schools can access safe alternatives.” The Unsafe School Choice Option is “designed to ensure students in persistently dangerous schools are provided with an opportunity to attend a safe public elementary or secondary school, including a public charter school.”
— In Florida, the legislature has enacted a new policy expanding the scope of school safety regulations. Senate Bill 1470 expands the state’s Guardian Program to include childcare centers.”
— In Virginia, the Loudoun County Sheriff is seeking the expansion of the school resource officer program to include the 65 elementary schools. The Loudoun County Sheriff Strategic Plan reflects the belief that “if you have any kind of significant incident at a school, unarmed security is not going to be able to do much … They’re not part of our emergency response team, so they’re not going to know who to call, whether you need fire and rescue out there, whether you have a medical emergency, and what kind of steps that we take to notify parents.”