– In New Jersey, the United States District Court dismissed the lawsuit of a student who, “continued to go to school without a clear backpack” in violation of school policy. In upholding the school policy, the court stated that the preference of the student to carry his own canvas backpack, “is not in and of itself protected,” and that the decision of school officials to enforce its policy, seizing and searching his backpack with each violation, was not a violation of any federal or state rights. Quoting from the U.S. Supreme Court case of New Jersey v. T.L.O., the court ruled that, “(t)he school setting, however, requires some easing of the restrictions to which searches by public authorities are ordinarily subject.” Krasil v. Betze.
— In Texas, the legislature has approved a school safety bill that would require an armed person at every Texas campus. Under the provisions of House Bill 3, the armed person can be either a peace officer, a school resource officer, a school marshal or a school district employee. HB 3 also requires an updated emergency preparedness plan with audits at least once every three years, a regional education service center to help develop those plans and address campus security needs for local schools, mental health training for district employees who regularly interact with students, and the development of a notification system for parents and guardians about possible violent incidents on school grounds.
— In Connecticut, the legislature has approved a school safety bill that states, “(e)ach local or regional board of education that assigns a school resource officer to any school under the jurisdiction of such board shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with a local law enforcement agency regarding the role and responsibility of such school resource officer.” The provisions of Bill No. 1095 also require that the MOU “shall be maintained in a central location in the school district and posted on the Internet web site of the school district.” The key provision of the MOU must, “include provisions addressing daily interactions between students and school personnel with school resource officers, and shall include a graduated response model for student discipline.”
— In Delaware, the legislature has introduced a school safety bill that would allocate 10 million dollars to pay for school resource officers. “If (Bill 167) is approved, this would mean at least one school resource officer for every 1,000 students if the school chooses to have one at all. The resource officers would derive from local police stations or state troopers.”