Parent, student taken into custody after assault at Williamstown High School
By 6abc Digital Staff, Oct. 11, 2024, 5:52 p.m.
WILLIAMSTOWN, New Jersey (WPVI) -- A parent and a student were taken into custody after a school resource officer and a faculty member were both assaulted in Gloucester County.
It happened just after 9 a.m. Friday at Williamstown High School.
The school was placed on a temporary lockdown during the altercation, but later resumed normal operations.
The assault led to a large police presence at the school.
Teacher Shortages by State and How Schools Are Trying to Fix the Problem
The Institute of Education Sciences launched a new five-year initiative to evaluate policies and identify best practices in recruiting and retaining teachers.
By Amy Rock, Oct. 11, 2024
Last month, the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education’s research wing, announced a newly-funded five-year initiative intended to find more effective teacher recruitment and retention strategies for American schools.
“The Center brings together researchers from 10 institutions to study recruitment and retention policies at varying stages of K–12 teaching pipeline across nine states. Researchers will use state longitudinal data systems and analytic approaches to estimate causal impacts of each policy,” the researchers say. “The Center will examine implementation of each policy. The Center will carry out leadership activities designed to bring together key groups involved in K–12 teacher recruitment/retention, to inform the focused program of research as well as supplemental research, share out findings from Center research, and build the field’s capacity to conduct K–12 teacher recruitment and retention research.”
News that the FBI received a cluster of 2023 tips about a student accused of killing four people in his Winder, Ga., high school Wednesday sparked a cascade of questions about whether the attack could have been avoided and how it could inform future school-violence prevention efforts.
Law enforcement authorities said the subject of those tips, now a 14-year-old student, shot and killed two classmates and two teachers at Apalachee High School. Investigators were searching for a motive Thursday and probing how the suspect, who is now in police custody, attained a weapon used in the killings, which authorities described as an AR-15 style rifle. The accused shooter was charged with four counts of felony murder on Thursday.
In Illinois, the United States District Court is sending a student’s injury claim to a trial jury based upon the allegation that school officials were deliberately indifferent prior to an attack by another student. The injury to the student arose when the eighth-grade student reported a pattern of bullying, threats of physical violence, and racially offensive comments by another student, including “on social media platforms such as Snapchat.” Up the chain of reporting, “the school did not intervene or discipline the (other student),” except “the assistant principal met with the (other student) and disclosed (the victim’s) complaint.” That same day, the other student “physically attacked and severely injured (the victim) during school hours on school property.” Finally, “the (other student) was suspended for two days.” The standard of law announced by the court is that “racial harassment must be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it]undermines and detracts from the victims’ educational experience, and that the victim-students are effectively denied equal access to an institution's resources and opportunities… (having) a ‘concrete, negative effect’ on the victim's education, which may include dropping grades, becoming homebound or hospitalized due to harassment, physical violence, or physical exclusion from a school resource.” (Title IX), (Davis v. Monroe County. Board of Education). The court denied the request of the school district to dismiss the case because “the Court can reasonably infer the attack was motivated by racial animus. And as alleged, the harassment had a concrete, negative effect in that it caused (the victim) to receive hospital treatment and miss class.” Further, the court noted that “a school administrator is deliberately indifferent when his indifference, at a minimum, causes students to undergo harassment or makes them liable or vulnerable to it.” Therefore, “because the assistant principal was a school administrator who likely had the requisite control” the case will go to trial to determine liability. Sojda on behalf of Sojda v. Chicago Board of Education
In Oregon, “students with Portland Public Schools are taking a stand against gun violence in their communities. Students spoke at (a) school board meeting…after they gathered 250 signatures for a petition, demanding district and state leaders to prioritize school safety. Over the past month at campuses … there have been a number of threats and incidents involving guns on or near school property.”
In Michigan, the Governor “signed legislation … that will give a $125 million boost to school safety and mental health programs, early next year. School districts can spend the money in a variety of ways, according to their needs. Options include hiring school resource officers or upgrading alarms.” HB 5503 bill also “secures one million dollars to support a tip line for students to anonymously report improperly stored firearms that were accessible to a minor.” (HB 5503 HERE).
In New Mexico, the Albuquerque Public Schools are partnering with the entity C1 to deploy a safety platform known as 911inform. The technology “integrates seamlessly with APS's existing infrastructure, enabling real-time data sharing with emergency responders and providing comprehensive visibility across all district sites.”
International Bullying Prevention Association Conference
Dec. 4, 2024 | Nashville, Tennessee
Center for Safe Schools Coordinator Leah Galkowski will be presenting "Nurturing Safe and Inclusive School Communities: The Interconnection of Student Safety, Inclusive Learning, and Educator Wellness” at the conference.
This symposium goes beyond a typical conference; it's an immersive learning experience that brings together individuals from across the country who are passionate about keeping their schools and communities safe.
Don't miss two days of inspiring keynotes, training on the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and Standard Reunification Method (SRM), and ample opportunities for networking with foundation staff and peers in the school and community safety space. This is an amazing chance to gain actionable insights into enhancing the safety of your organization and those in it.
Check out the Behavioral Data Bulletin from our friends at Safer School’s Together
This visual report is packed with valuable data to help you enhance safety in your educational community. We believe in the power of shared knowledge, so we encourage you to spread the word!
