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The Four Rivers Special Education District in Illinois, which had the highest student arrest rate in the nation, has agreed to reform its disciplinary practices for disabled students. The agreement with the U.S. Department of Education follows a 2022 investigation by ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune that found the district frequently turned to police to discipline students with disabilities. Under the agreement, students who were referred to police or sent to a "crisis room" multiple times in the past three years may be eligible for services such as tutoring, counseling, or remedial education. The district must also develop new policies for the use of crisis rooms and provide training to staff. [Extracted from the article]

City officials in Uvalde, Texas, have released records related to the Robb Elementary school shooting, shedding new light on the incident and confirming previous reporting. The records reveal that law enforcement had to rely on a parent to break the locks on the school's gated fence, and that a relative of the shooter had discussed his suicidal thoughts the night before the massacre. Text exchanges between officers also highlight their frustrations after being blamed for the incident. The release of these records is part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit between the city and news organizations, and other government agencies involved in the incident are being urged to follow suit. [Extracted from the article]

A new law in Tennessee allows school employees to carry handguns under certain conditions, but there is little interest among school districts or educators in taking advantage of this option. The law requires a training requirement, mental health evaluation, and written authorization from local law enforcement for a teacher to carry a gun in school. However, the provision that assigns teachers sole liability for any incidents involving their gun has raised concerns. Many educators and lawmakers disagree on whether arming teachers makes schools safer or could potentially cause more harm. [Extracted from the article]

Advocates in Minnesota are concerned that a task force created to develop a model policy on the use of prone restraint in schools is shutting down discussion on the issue. The task force, which includes representatives from law enforcement agencies, disability advocates, and others, has stated that it will not discuss prone restraints or use of force. Advocates fear that the resulting model policy will not reflect best practices and will not adequately protect students. The use of prone restraints in schools has been linked to child deaths and disproportionately affects students of color and those with disabilities. [Extracted from the article]

Former Uvalde school police Chief Pete Arredondo and another former officer have been indicted on charges of child endangerment in connection with the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. The charges come more than two years after the shooting, in which a lone gunman killed 19 fourth graders and two teachers. The botched law enforcement response has been widely criticized, and the U.S. Justice Department report documented failures in leadership. Efforts to reach Arredondo and the other indicted officer were unsuccessful. [Extracted from the article]

The National Center for Youth Law and the MacArthur Justice Center have filed a civil rights complaint against Rockford Public Schools in Illinois, accusing the district of unlawfully targeting Black students with tickets, arrests, and other disciplinary actions. The complaint alleges that the district's reliance on police for school discipline disproportionately affects Black students and violates federal laws prohibiting discrimination. The groups argue that the district's partnership with police funnels Black students into the justice system for minor infractions, while their white peers receive different treatment. The complaint calls for a change in the district's discipline practices and reliance on police. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the issue of sexual abuse within police youth programs, with a specific focus on the Boy Scouts' Explorer program. The investigation reveals numerous allegations of grooming, sexual abuse, and inappropriate behavior by law enforcement personnel towards teenage Explorers, particularly girls. The article highlights the lack of oversight and accountability within these programs, allowing armed officers to be alone with teenagers and dismissing concerns of abuse. While some argue that abuse cases are rare and the program benefits teenagers interested in law enforcement, the article concludes with a tragic case of abuse and suicide, prompting a lawsuit against the officers and department. The article also mentions a recent settlement reached by the Boy Scouts with abuse survivors and emphasizes the need for further investigation and prevention measures. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the issue of sexual abuse within police youth programs, with a specific focus on the Boy Scouts' Explorer program. The investigation reveals numerous allegations of grooming, sexual abuse, and inappropriate behavior by law enforcement personnel towards teenage Explorers, particularly girls. The article highlights the lack of oversight and accountability within these programs, allowing armed officers to be alone with teenagers and dismissing concerns of abuse. While some argue that abuse cases are rare and the program benefits teenagers interested in law enforcement, the article concludes with a tragic case of abuse and suicide, prompting a lawsuit against the officers and department. The article also mentions a recent settlement reached by the Boy Scouts with abuse survivors and emphasizes the need for further investigation and prevention measures. [Extracted from the article]

A recent investigation by The Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and FRONTLINE revealed critical gaps in active shooter training requirements for schools and law enforcement officers across the United States. While 37 states mandate active shooter-related drills in schools, no states require such training for officers annually. Only Texas and Michigan have laws that require active shooter training for all officers once on the job, with Texas coming closest to meeting the Department of Justice's recommended standards. The investigation also found that some states, including California, Georgia, Ohio, Washington, and Vermont, do not require active shooter training for all recruits in police academies. The lack of training requirements for officers can have serious consequences, as demonstrated by the delayed response to an active shooter incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The investigation highlights the need for consistent and comprehensive active shooter training to better prepare law enforcement and protect communities. [Extracted from the article]

The law also requires "disciplinary actions, up to and including expulsion" for dealing prescription drugs at school and assaulting other students or school personnel on school property or at school functions. Parents in Boone County, Kentucky, were outraged this past January when a ninth grader who had been suspended a year earlier for threatening violence against his fellow students returned to class as soon as his punishment time was up. [Extracted from the article]

Israel Villa, 45, is deputy director of the California Alliance for Youth & Community Justice in the Monterey Bay Area town of Hollister. Once a "badass Latina" and handcuffed schoolboys, they now push for juvenile justice reform Xochtil Larios, 23, is youth justice coordinator at Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice in Oakland and member of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission of Alameda County. This, as their home state of California has transferred control of juvenile incarceration from state prisons, which closed in June 2023, to California counties, hoping that being closer to home will help steer teen and young adult offenders onto a steadier, straighter path. [Extracted from the article]

DENVER (AP) - A 17-year-old student was found dead in the Colorado woods after being accused of shooting and wounding two administrators at his Denver high school where students and parents were already fed up over recent violence and a lack of action by officials, authorities said Thursday. The shooting occurred at a school shaken by frequent lockdowns and violence, including the recent killing outside the school of a classmate that prompted East High School students to march on the Colorado Capitol earlier this month. Amid the flurry of criticism over lax security, Denver school officials said Wednesday that they would once again put armed officers into the city's public high schools. [Extracted from the article]

"Let's all agree that gun education is really important, particularly around gun safety and accidents and kids getting access to guns", Astor said. Astor said that a public health approach to reducing gun violence in schools is needed, as well as gun licensing. NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - The shooting of a first-grade teacher by a 6-year-old boy has plunged the nation into uncharted waters of school violence, with many in the Virginia shipbuilding city where it happened demanding metal detectors in every school. [Extracted from the article]

As kids' behavior reaches crisis points after the stress and isolation of pandemic shutdowns, many schools are facing pressure from critics to rethink their approaches to discipline - including policies intended to reduce suspensions and expulsions. The latest example came this week in Newport News, Virginia, where teachers complained at a school board meeting that the school system where a 6-year-old shot his teacher had become too lenient with students. But more students have been acting out, and some school systems have faced questions from teachers, parents and lawmakers about whether a gentle approach can effectively address problems that disrupt classrooms. [Extracted from the article]

Since then, parents, students and educators have raised concerns about an increase in school violence that coincided with replacing police with restorative justice coordinators called "climate coaches." Minneapolis school board members also voted to remove armed police from schools and replaced them with safety support specialists, but with a different, more positive outcome, teachers and school officials told Youth Today. In Madison, where the removal of police from schools has been more fraught, school community members shared similar sentiments about the officers who had left. [Extracted from the article]

Vic Wahl, then the acting chief of the Madison Police Department, said removing police, also known as resource officers, from Madison's public schools was short-sighted. Wahl's quote was wrongly attributed to the public schools' spokesman in a prior version of this article. [Extracted from the article]

Students can be ticketed by school resource officers or by local police departments to whom school staff members refer students viewed as disruptive. School resource officer: Tickets may avert arrests Canady, of the National Association of School Resource Officers, said he never saw a student ticketed during his 12 years as a school resource officer in Hoover, Ala., a job he retired from in 2011. [Extracted from the article]

Other Republican governors who made money available for security upgrades include Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who announced $100 million for school security three days after the Uvalde shooting, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, whose state is giving $2.6 million to increase training capacity and classes for school resource officers. "Ideally, you're going to use funding to ensure that every school that wants to hire well-trained school resource officers, as part of their school safety plan, can do that", DiMauro said. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - In the aftermath of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, governors around the country vowed to take steps to ensure their students would be kept safe. [Extracted from the article]

Superintendent Greg Johnson No one at the School Board meeting spoke Robinson's name, though the incident was on many minds. Leon Watson, a family friend, frowned when asked about Robinson and the gun. Oak Park, Ill. (AP) - Keyon Robinson was just a month away from graduating from high school when he took a loaded gun, placed it in his backpack and headed to campus. [Extracted from the article]

No involvement of school resource officers in classroom management b School resource officers and other law enforcement officers should never be involved in standard disciplinary or classroom management issues. While some families and communities have considered their schools second homes or safe havens, the reality is no community is immune to school violence. [Extracted from the article]

However, while Black students have been slightly less over-represented in disciplinary referrals since school safety staff replaced police officers, each of the nearly 30 students who were referred to law enforcement or recommended for expulsion in the first part of last school year were Black. MINNEAPOLIS - A month after the murder of George Floyd, the Minneapolis school board voted to end its contract with the Minneapolis Police Department to staff schools with armed school resource officers and tasked Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed Graff with creating a new plan for school safety. [Extracted from the article]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The first week of school was supposed to mark a triumphant return to classrooms at San Francisco's Everett Middle School after more than a year of distance learning. "Without doubt, we are hearing across the board that schools are experiencing significantly more crises related to school violence and emotional behavioral crises", said Sharon Hoover, co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. [Extracted from the article]

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said that because of the student's young age, an opioid overdose did not immediately come to mind when the school nurse and first responders, who did have naloxone, treated him. HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The death of a 13-year-old student who apparently overdosed on fentanyl at his Connecticut school has drawn renewed pleas for schools to stock the opioid antidote naloxone, as well as for training of both staffers and children on how to recognize and respond to overdoses. [Extracted from the article]

The author comments on a June 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Education which found a 5 percent spike in the number of on-campus students arrests and a 12 percent increase in police answering calls to campuses from the 2015-16 through 2017-18 school years. Topics covered include data showing that criminalization, especially for Black children, begins as early as preschool years, and federal proposals to limit suspensions and arrests.

The article reports that some public school districts across the U.S. have disbanded police in schools amid a years-long debate over the prudence of employing law enforcement officers in schools. Topics covered include a 2016 national study which found that arrest rates of children increased after schools started hiring police officers, another study which showed that students of color are the main ones who are suspended, and concerns about the culture of calling the police for almost anything.

The article focuses on the demand for changes in leadership in law enforcement agencies, cultural paradigm shifts, such as calls to defund the police in the U.S. It mentions about the demand for removing police from city schools and introducing police reforms. It also mentions about several protests against police brutality after murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of the police.

The article discusses New York's City Council has voted on a budget that includes deep cuts to New York Police Dept. (NYPD's) personnel and shifts several police officers to other city agencies instead of schools. It mentions that the outrage following the death of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis, has reignited a national conversation over policing. It mentions Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that funding from the NYPD cuts will be shifted to save the program.

The article discusses New York city's Public Advocate will hold up budget if it does not get commitments for reforms to how school safety is administered. It mentions current budget does not do enough to rein police department, particularly New York Police Department led public school safety program according to advocate Jumaane Williams. It mentions that Mayor Bill de Blasio, has outlined his vision for how he plans to return control of the school safety program to the Dept. of Education.

The article discusses ways to enhance the role of school resource officer (SRO) programs which are school-law enforcement-community partnerships aimed at diverting at-risk youth of becoming involved in criminal behavior. Topics covered include questions to consider to drive diversion through SRO programs, role of educator, informal counselor/mentor and law enforcement officer to keep youth out of involvement with the juvenile justice system and how the SRO is trained to divert youth.