— In Pennsylvania, the United States District Court upheld the authority of school officials to discipline a student whose off-campus posts on the Internet threatened to “show up at practice to beat yo ass bitch,” to “grab a fucking bottle and bash that shit on your face till I see your brain bitch,” to “send you bitch ass to the father,” and that were followed by the posting of a photograph of the student with a gun. The court held that the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., which protected a student’s off-campus speech from school discipline did not apply because here the speech of the student was “not merely profane, but they were actual threats.” The court concluded that, “it does not matter whether (severe bullying or harassment) occur on-campus or off-campus. They are simply not protected by the First Amendment and fall squarely within the authority of schools to regulate and to impose appropriate discipline.” A.F. v. Ambridge Area School District
— Nationally, data show that when students and schools need nurses many schools have no nurses at all. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is recommended that schools have one full-time nurse for every 750 students. Data show that 39% of schools employ full-time nurses and about 35% employ part-time school nurses, while 25% do not employ school nurses.
— In Kentucky, Bill Request 440 has been introduced in the legislature to make resource officers mandatory for Kentucky schools. The proposal would amend KRS 158.4414 to require the assignment of school resource officers to schools by August 1, 2022, removing a clause in the law that exempts school districts from having an SRO if they can’t afford it.
— In Iowa, the Des Moines Public Schools are implementing a Restoration Justice School Safety program to replace school resource officers. Restoration Facilitators will work in the schools, helping students solve problems by giving them alternate ways to handle a situation before things get out of hand. The schools will call Des Moines police for campus misconduct that violates the law and will deploy off-duty police at school-sponsored events.