— In Louisiana, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana reversed the dismissal of a case involving a student who was injured during an after-school joyriding incident in the campus parking lot. The appellate court reversed because the school breached the duty of reasonable supervision when it violated its own policy. The school rule required that school officials “should be responsible for the supervision of students during the school day and for a reasonable period of time before and after school.” The student was injured “while sitting on the trunk of a car in motion… After football practice ended.” Reversal and remand of the case for a trial is required because “a school board policy that implicitly recognizes the capacity for harm in the absence of supervision, and several after-school activities—it is foreseeable that an accident in a school parking lot could occur. At the very least, the foreseeability of such an incident is a question of material fact properly left to the fact-finder for determination.” Reed v. Lafayette Parish School Board
— In Arkansas, officials in Conway are preparing to deploy drones designed to stop school shooters. The remotely controlled device “can respond in five seconds…be on the shooter in 15 seconds and …can degrade and incapacitate in 60 seconds.”
— In Missouri, a “St. Louis charter school has been ordered to stop in-person classes immediately after a safety audit uncovered major security and supervision failures.” Among other things, the audit “found broken or missing door alarms, unmonitored security cameras and widespread supervision and emergency-preparedness issues.”
— In Ohio, officials in Wood County are implementing a new safety protocol “by integrating behavioral threat assessment and centralized digital case management, prioritizing proactive student wellness and prevention.” “Using a centralized case management system, they will be able to recognize early signs of student distress, securely share information and intervene with care before challenges escalate into more serious events.”