School Safety

For school districts in Ohio, one of the most consequential acts passed last year was HB 318. Among other things, the act:

On July 12, the Ohio Attorney General’s (OAG) office

Yesterday, the U.S.

In December, the Legal Ledger reported that the Federal Commission on School Safety, formed by President Trump after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, had released its report and recommendations.

Earlier this week, the Federal Commission on School Safety (Commission) released a report detailing 93 best practices and policy recommendations for improving safety at scho

Recently, a Virginia middle school held a lockdown drill as part of its safety plan.

In the current discussions involving school shooting incidents and arming staff members, one interesting question that inevitably arises concerns collective bargaining issues that may come into play as well. Obviously, permitting staff to possess firearms, as well as expecting them to use them if the situation dictates can be construed as a term or condition of employment.

Earlier this week, the U. S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released the most recent biennial Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The data included in the 2015-16 CRDC was self-reported by more than 17,300 public school districts and almost 96,400 public schools and educational programs.

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Each board of education is required by law to adopt a “school safety plan” for each building in the district. Recently, the laws have changed regarding the creation and submission of these plans.  Changes to RC 3313.536 became effective last fall, and ODE’s accompanying administrative rule (OAC 3301-5-01) became effective in January.  Changes include:

Name change.  Previously, the law referred to these plans as “school safety plans.”  The new laws change the name of the plans to “emergency management plans.”