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March 1, 2024

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Center for Safe Schools, from the desk of Joey Melvin, Director

Recent School Safety News 

US news & World Report

School Lockdown Drills Help Students Feel Safer: Study


Feb. 23, 2024, at 7:05 a.m.
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter


Lockdown drills have become a shudder-inducing part of American life, preparing kids to lie low and keep quiet if a gunman chooses to roam their school. But a new study finds these drills help children who’ve been exposed to violence, helping them feel safer at school.


The findings contradict claims that drills traumatize children rather than making them feel secure, researchers said.

Read U.S. News article.

Security guards fired after leaving gun on desk and in bathroom of Fort Bend ISD schools


The guards were hired as part of Texas' new armed guardian mandate
By Elizabeth Sander, Staff writer
Feb 27, 2024

Fort Bend Independent School District

Two security guards have been let go from their contracted positions with Fort Bend ISD after separate incidents where they left firearms unattended at elementary schools, district officials say.


One guard left their handgun in a staff bathroom at Sullivan Elementary School in January, and another left their gun holstered in a “duty belt” in an empty classroom at Sugar Mill Elementary School earlier this month, according to a district statement. 

Read the Houston Chronicle article.

Differing data on school shooting casualties since 2013, were there 188 or 1,229?

By Katherine Schweit

many news outlets keep declaring that there have been upwards of
Read Stop the Killing article.

Investigation underway after Beverly Hills students share AI-generated nudes of classmates


By Sid Garcia Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024

 

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Authorities are investigating after students at a Beverly Hills middle school used artificial intelligence to generate nude images of classmates and shared them with others.

 

The Beverly Hills Unified School District called the incident an "appalling misuse" of the technology and said students at Beverly Vista Middle School who engaged in the behavior may face expulsion among other consequences.

Read the ABC article.

Student charged in shooting outside Sussex Central basketball playoff game


Feb. 28, 2024

 

A 15-year-old Sussex Central student faces charges in connection with firing a gun outside of the school during a basketball tournament game on Feb. 27.


Troopers on duty for the first-round state tournament playoff game between Sussex Central and Cape Henlopen boys were notified at 8:53 p.m. of gunfire in the Sussex Central parking lot, police said. Police found multiple shell casings, but there were no reported injuries.


Using video surveillance footage, police said, troopers were able to identify a 15-year-old student enrolled at Sussex Central High School.

Read Cape Gazette article.

School Law News

In New Mexico, the Court of Appeals of New Mexico held that the actions of school officials leading up to the physical injury of a student who returned to school after post-hip surgery fell within the waiver of immunity under state law. The parent “provided the school two separate doctor's notes prohibiting his son from participating in any sports or physical education.”  Even so, “on (the student’s) first day back, his homeroom teacher allowed him to go outside during the recess break,” where he fell, sustaining “a serious injury to his recently operated-on hip.”   The appellate court ruled that the failure of the school “to follow school policy created a dangerous condition in the operation of the school and caused (the student’s) injury, and therefore… waived (school) immunity.”  The appellate court noted that “a school simply cannot operate in a safe, reasonable, and prudent manner without affording, at the very least, the health and safety services that students have been promised, and upon which parents have relied.”  Vanhorn as Next Friend of Vanhorn v. Carlsbad Municipal School District

 

In Illinois, the Chicago Board of Education voted to remove police from its campuses. “A new “holistic” plan for school safety…will replace the SRO program.”  “Police will only be allowed outside of school campuses,” supervising school opening and closing.

 

In Massachusetts, the Governor rejected requests to deploy the National Guard to address school violence in the Brockton Public Schools. The Brockton School Board “pleaded in a Feb. 15 letter for the Guard’s “expertise in crisis management and community support” until the district was able to put long-term solutions in place.”  The Governor said that “sending in the National Guard would be an inappropriate response.”

 

In Maryland, legislation has been introduced that would require Baltimore City Schools Police officers to carry a firearm while on school property. Officers with Baltimore City Schools Police have the same powers as city police officers, but are prohibited from carrying their firearms inside schools. Senate Bill 819 would take away the prohibition. 

 

Source-Dr. Bernie James               Schoolsafetylawblog.com

Training Opportunities

Gavin de Becker & Associates

School Safety Conference

The Langham Huntington
1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue
Pasadena, California 91106


On Thursday, April 25, we are dedicating an entire day to the prevention of violence in schools. Why? Simply put, we feel called to do more.  


For more than 25 years, our Advanced Threat Assessment Academy has covered topics relevant to protecting students in K-12 and higher education environments. However, with the increased level and frequency of violence impacting our nation’s schools, we decided more is needed. For GDBA’s inaugural One-day School Safety Conference, we assembled the nation’s foremost thought leaders. Here they will share wisdom and collaborate with attendees toward one common goal: Preventing Violence in Schools…SOONER. 

Apply by April 5.
NASRO CPTED Course, June 10-12, Gettysburg

School CPTED - Gettysburg, PA
June 10 - 12, 2024 | 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.


Heritage Center
297 Steinwehr Avenue
Gettysburg, PA 17325

Register for CPTED course.
2024 National Social and Emotional Learning Conference, May 21-23, King of Prussia

Resources

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Thank you,

Joey Melvin

Director

Center for Safe Schools

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