— In California, the California Court of Appeal upheld the order of a trial court “granting a workplace violence restraining order” in favor of school officials and the school district against a former student. The former student posted over a series of years comments online that she was “ the next school shooter.” After a sibling reported to a school resource officer that a recent visit was conducted “to assess how to commit a mass shooting,” the court issued the workplace violence restraining order. Under state law, a school district may protect the campus from violence by obtaining a workplace violence restraining order when an employee “has suffered unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence from any individual, that can reasonably be construed to be carried out or to have been carried out at the workplace, may seek a temporary restraining order.” The court must find “by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent … made a credible threat of violence.” The appellate court ruled that “in those tweets, she repeatedly expressed her animosity toward the school and her former classmates… several of her tweets referenced her desire to take revenge on the school as well as her former classmates… Viewed in the context of these earlier tweets, the trial court reasonably concluded that J.H.’s subsequent tweets that she was “the next school shooter” and that she would “kill you all” placed a reasonable person working at her former high school in fear for their safety.” Applying the U.S. Supreme Court case of Counterman v. Colorado, the appellate court ruled that the speech was not protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. “Any threatening statement that a reasonable listener would understand, in light of the context and surrounding circumstances, to constitute a true threat is not protected speech.” San Ramon Valley Unified School District v. J.H.
— In Michigan, the legislature rejected Senate Bill 1005, a proposal “to restore nearly $302 million in school safety and student mental health care funding that was cut in the new state budget.” The source of the restored funding would be taken from the General Fund. The sponsor of the legislation laments, “a 92% reduction in school safety and student mental health funding is set to take effect… These are not partisan matters, and no community is immune from the risks of violence or the challenges posed by untreated mental health conditions.”
— Nationally, a study from RAND finds most teachers don’t think active shooter drills are effective for school safety. “The survey specifically asked whether such drills made teachers feel more or less safe and prepared to respond to active assailant events and teachers’ perceptions of their students’ feelings about such drills, as well as whether supports were available to students and staff during and following drills. Survey results indicate that more work is needed to understand the impact of drills on staff and students and what schools can do to better support the well-being of students and staff who are required to participate in these activities.”
— In Michigan, officials from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Michigan State Police are celebrating the OK2SAY student safety program in the 10th year of its operation. “The program allows students, parents, school staff and educators to report acts and behaviors that include internal harm such as suicide attempts and drug use as well as external threats such as bullying or planned attacks such as shootings on an educational facility all while maintaining their anonymity. The program is accessible for all schools in Michiganregardless of whether they are public, private or charter schools.”