— In Illinois, the United States District Court is sending a student’s injury claim to a trial jury based upon the allegation that school officials were deliberately indifferent prior to an attack by another student. The injury to the student arose when the eighth-grade student reported a pattern of bullying, threats of physical violence, and racially offensive comments by another student, including “on social media platforms such as Snapchat.” Up the chain of reporting, “the school did not intervene or discipline the (other student),” except “the assistant principal met with the (other student) and disclosed (the victim’s) complaint.” That same day, the other student “physically attacked and severely injured (the victim) during school hours on school property.” Finally, “the (other student) was suspended for two days.” The standard of law announced by the court is that “racial harassment must be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it]undermines and detracts from the victims’ educational experience, and that the victim-students are effectively denied equal access to an institution’s resources and opportunities… (having) a ‘concrete, negative effect’ on the victim’s education, which may include dropping grades, becoming homebound or hospitalized due to harassment, physical violence, or physical exclusion from a school resource.” (Title IX), (Davis v. Monroe County. Board of Education). The court denied the request of the school district to dismiss the case because “the Court can reasonably infer the attack was motivated by racial animus. And as alleged, the harassment had a concrete, negative effect in that it caused (the victim) to receive hospital treatment and miss class.” Further, the court noted that “a school administrator is deliberately indifferent when his indifference, at a minimum, causes students to undergo harassment or makes them liable or vulnerable to it.” Therefore, “because the assistant principal was a school administrator who likely had the requisite control” the case will go to trial to determine liability. Sojda on behalf of Sojda v. Chicago Board of Education
— In Oregon, “students with Portland Public Schools are taking a stand against gun violence in their communities. Students spoke at (a) school board meeting…after they gathered 250 signatures for a petition, demanding district and state leaders to prioritize school safety. Over the past month at campuses … there have been a number of threats and incidents involving guns on or near school property.”
— In Michigan, the Governor “signed legislation … that will give a $125 million boost to school safety and mental health programs, early next year. School districts can spend the money in a variety of ways, according to their needs. Options include hiring school resource officers or upgrading alarms.” HB 5503 bill also “secures one million dollars to support a tip line for students to anonymously report improperly stored firearms that were accessible to a minor.” (HB 5503 HERE).
— In New Mexico, the Albuquerque Public Schools are partnering with the entity C1 to deploy a safety platform known as 911inform. The technology “integrates seamlessly with APS’s existing infrastructure, enabling real-time data sharing with emergency responders and providing comprehensive visibility across all district sites.”