Safety Law News for November 21, 2024

— In Ohio, the Court of Appeals of Ohio affirmed the adjudication of a student for disorderly conduct at his school in violation of provisions of state law.  The student used profane language directed at the administrator who, while teaching a class, told the student to put the hood down on his sweatshirt in compliance with school policy.  The range of language used included, “Big fucking mistake, sir. Big fucking mistake,” and “You don’t know what I can do,” and “You’re done.”  “The administrator testified that (the student’s) aggressive demeanor made him nervous and fear for his safety.”  School surveillance video and testimony from the school resource officer established that the student “displayed almost an attack stance by clenching his fists and “rubbing his fists together… potentially going into a violent manner.”  The appellate court applied the rule that prohibits persons from “recklessly caus(ing) inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to another by… threatening harm to persons or property… in violent or turbulent behavior… committed in the vicinity of a school or in a school safety zone.”  The adjudication was affirmed because “after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that G.F. recklessly caused inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm by engaging in violent or turbulent behavior at the school.”  In Re: G.F., Adjudicated Delinquent Child

— In South Dakota, the Rapid City Board of Education approved a resolution to keep its school resource officers.  “Multiple board members shared they had found the majority of the public favored keeping school resource officers in the interest of preserving safety in schools.”

— In Alabama, the Huntsville City School District voted unanimously to give key fobs to all Huntsville Police Department officers to gain access to all campuses.  One objective is to “make sure that our response times in dire worst case scenarios is more efficient, more effective.”

— In Texas, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District will receive a $1 million federal grant to improve crisis intervention programs.  The funds will be used to “improve security measures, including violence prevention and crisis response training for law enforcement and school resource officers, firearm safety training for community members, and data collection, technology, and information sharing to reduce violence.”