— In New York, the United States District Court approved the request of a group of parents suing an elementary-school administrator for “dozens of counts of child abuse,” to add on claims against others as well as the school district itself in failing to “sound the alarm.” The court applied the “bystander” theory of liability. This form of liability reaches beyond the misconduct of the school employee to others who fail to respond to the misconduct. The rule is “even where the direct tortfeaser was not acting within the scope of her employment when she commits the predicate tort, an employer may nonetheless be liable under a theory of respondeat superior if other employees, acting within the scope of their employment, negligently respond to the direct tortfeaser.” The court is allowing the amended claim after finding that an “Assistant Principal… testified at (the Principal’s) criminal trial that she saw signs of (child) abuse yet did not report them.” Doe v. Hilton Central School District
— In Arizona, Arizona Superintendent Tom Horne has extended the Department of Education’s agreement with the entity, Off Duty Management, “to make sure students, educators and staff are protected by armed and uniformed School Safety Officers.” Off Duty Management “was founded by former law enforcement officers (and) works directly with local law enforcement agencies and school districts to fill vacant School Safety Officer positions.”
— Nationally, school cell phone bans are being discussed in different ways after the Georgia shooting. “The Georgia school shooting that left four dead and nine injured last week was every parent’s worst nightmare, and one that highlights potential downsides to efforts among states, school districts and federal lawmakers to ban or restrict access to cellphones in classrooms.”
— In Tennessee, educators are becoming more rigorous in their response to students “making a threat against a school.” “Lawmakers and district officials said they hoped the significant punishments deter students from making those threats, which have to be treated as real even if there’s no plan or intent behind them.”