• In Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a free speech suit filed by a cheerleader who was removed from her cheerleading squad due to her off-campus social media activity. The cheerleading coaches discovered a series of posts on her personal Twitter account containing profanity and sexual innuendo. The ruling allowed school officials to enforce their more rigorous conduct rules for participation in an extra-curricular activity. (Longoria Next Friend of M.L. v. San Benito Indep. Consol. Sch. Dist)
• In New York, the New York Supreme Court ruled that school officials were not liable for a student’s death by suicide on the basis of the allegation that the educators failed to act to stop bullying. The court reasoned that the duty of care exists in loco parentis but operates within the limited zone of an educator’s physical custody of and control over a student. The student’s death occurred after school hours and off school premises, where district had no control over student, and there was no allegation that school officials were on notice of possibility of student’s suicide. (Collazo v. Hicksville Union Free School District)
• In Maine, officials in the City of Portland are seeking a revision in the agreement with local police to prevent school resource officers from wearing body cameras. The school board voted unanimously to remove body cameras based on the belief that they erode the right to privacy of students. Police officials do not agree with the decision.
• In North Carolina, Pitt County is the 14th county in the state to adopt the School Justice Partnership. SJP is an initiative managed by the North Carolina Judicial Branch’s Administrative Office of the Courts. Its goal is to reduce the number of juvenile referrals to the court system through collaboration by school resource officers, school officials and representatives of the courts.