— In Maryland the United States District Court denied qualified immunity to a school administrator accused by a parent of failing to protect her child. The “six-year-old public school student (was) in the first grade …when she was sexually abused by two female classmates.” The court held that, (t)he harm of sexual harassment consists not only of specific acts, but also the hostile “environment” or “atmosphere” these acts create.” Qualified immunity was inappropriate because the allegations showed that, “after (the student) was abused on five separate occasions in her classroom, (the administrator) knew what occurred, yet allowed (the student) to remain in the same class as her abusers, and failed to protect (the student) from further sexual abuse or…separate her from the other female classmates who abused her. The court ruled that “the law clearly established that a school administrator has a duty to ameliorate such an environment. Therefore, it is not appropriate to grant (the administrator) qualified immunity with respect to plaintiff’s equal protection claim.” Latisha Robinson v. Board of Education of Washington County
–In Arizona, officials in the Arizona Department of Education have approved a policy authorizing schools to fill vacant school resource officer positions with off-duty police officers. The officers “will receive less training than traditional school resource officers, who typically get 40 hours of training. School safety officers will take eight hours of asynchronous training on things unique to the school environment.”
— In Minnesota, an investigation reveals that the incidence of guns in schools is increasing.
“Schools are required to report to the Minnesota Department of Education when a weapon is found on the property.” The data show that “70 handgun or long guns were confiscated in schools during the 2021-22 school year. That is more than double the highest previous total and three times the 22 guns recovered during 2018-19 – the last full year before the pandemic kept many kids out of the classroom…In Minneapolis Public Schools alone, 30 guns were recovered during 2021-22, a significant increase over the four previous years combined.”
— In Arkansas, officials in the Pangburn School District are replacing more than 100 door locks and handles in three of the district’s oldest buildings. Officials discovered that some buildings “still have the original locking mechanisms and different keys for every door.” The upgrade is part of a comprehensive revision of the safety plan that includes, “ID badge card reader system… maglocks and ID scanners… a new Tiger tip line…(and) staff members (who) carry concealed firearms on campus.”