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I am currently working on my Masters of Education in Administration. At this point in my career, I hope to get a job as an assistant at either a secondary or elementary campus. I have taught at both levels. I am working towards getting a job in Muleshoe, where I am currently teaching.

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David Vela is the Safety Administrator at Muleshoe ISD. This is a new position for him and the district which has begun a Guardian Program. Mr. Vela was the assistant principal at Watson Junior High for three years before the new position.
Top Five Ideas Discussed:
#1: As the Safety Administrator Mr. Vela has to work hand in hand with law enforcement. This not only includes students but as well as District Employees, which makes discretion and confidentiality key to his job.
#2: As the leader of the Guardian program it is his job to make sure all guardians are legally qualified. Meaning LTC, psychological exams and monthly training to meet requirements from the State of Texas.
#3: With the new position, Mr. Vela had to learn about what is appropriate with search warrants. New Jersey v. T.L.O. 1985, said that the school environment requires an easing of restrictions for searches by public authorities. Therefore, school authorities do not need probable cause or a search warrant.
#4: During our discussion we discussed: Educational Code Title 2, Students and Parents Rights and Responsibilities. Discussing the rights of parents for academic, students records, special education information, and consent for activities. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.26.htm
#5: Mr. Vela discussed how important it is to understand child protection holds. Learning how to correctly restrain a child is an issue that has come to the front education especially with new incidents occurring in schools. Not harming the child as well as allowing the child to harm themselves or yourself.
(D. Vela,

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To what extent are districts, schools liable for students' safety?

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To what extent are districts, schools liable for students' safety?

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This article from Education Dive discusses seven different court cases, that include suicide, sexual assault and bullying as well as school shootings. Discussing the cases and the results and what they mean to schools liability. The legal and ethical ramifications from this article have implications for every school district. (Campisi, Feb. 20, 2019)

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While a school's primary goal is to educate students, another priority is providing a safe environment. It's a responsibility enforced in federal, state and local laws, but ultimately, students can - and do - get hurt. And when they do, many blame the school or district.

Getting scraped up during recess, for instance, isn't new. Neither is getting made fun of by a classmate. Some medical experts call falls and broken bones " inevitable ," and some scholars cite teasing as an " important preparation for life ." But more severe issues, including sexual harassment, cyberbullying and school shootings are increasingly penetrating classrooms, spurring legal disputes over who's responsible.

"School safety is moving from the schoolhouse to the court of public opinion and the law," said school safety consultant Kenneth Trump. "But every case is unique - the legal issues vary, the allegations vary, and that's what makes it hard to pin it down to a handful of specific issues and put it in this neat little box."

Hundreds of lawsuits point the finger at schools or districts when students get injuried. Among the most recent was a suit against Broward County Public Schools and the county sheriff's office - both of which a federal judge said didn't have a legal duty to protect students - after the Parkland, Florida, shooting. These cases span different issues and reached varying verdicts, but they involve the same question: To what degree are these entities liable for students' safety?

Below, we've broken down a list of cases involving a school or district's role in student safety. Here's what happened and what they mean in the debate:

M.S.D. of Martinsville v. Rebecca Jackson

What happened: In March 2011, two students at West Martinsville Middle School in Indiana were injured in a shooting: One, who was shot twice in the stomach, was targeted by the shooter - a former student known to threaten and harass his peers -

Though the shooter threatened the victim several times - and threats were reported to teachers before the shooting - teachers didn't tell the administration, court documents say. Additionally, in the suit, the victim's mother said the district didn't protect her son because certain school entrances were left unlocked and monitors weren't properly warned about the shooter being a threat, among other alleged safety breaches.

While the district argued the suit should be dismissed because it couldn't have reasonably prevented the shooting, an appeals court disagreed.

What this means: This ruling shows schools or districts can be found liable if evidence proves the event could have reasonably been prevented, either because officials had reason to believe it would take place or if their response protocol wasn't sufficiently implemented.

Scarlett Lewis, et al. v. Newtown Board of Education and Town of Newtown

What happened: In one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

In her decision, the judge said, "...Faculty and staff had to make split-second decisions ... and subjecting their decisions to scrutiny, aided by hindsight, would no less serve the public interest than subjecting a police officer's discretionary decisions to second guessing."

She added, "Emergencies, by their very nature, are sudden and often rapidly evolving events, and a response can never be 100% scripted and directed."

According to this ruling, school officials can have similar protections to police officers. Even if a school has a safety protocol, it's hard to force people to have scripted emergency responses without taking split-second judgment into account. And if someone gets hurt, it's not necessarily something for which a school or district is liable.

Sexual misconduct

Mitchell v. Cedar Rapids Community School District

One day, the 9th-grader got her mother's permission to go to a friend's house after school, but she skipped last period. The 12th-grader raped her that afternoon. While the school day had ended when the rape happened, the girl's mom didn't know her daughter missed last period, and there were no special requirements for handling absences in her Individualized Education Program (IEP). Her mother sued the district for negligence, failing to monitor her daughter and notify her in a timely manner.

The district argued that because the rape didn't happen during school hours or on school grounds, it wasn't legally liable. But the Iowa Supreme Court ruled it could have been prevented.

What this means: This ruling doesn't imply a district or school is legally obligated to protect students outside of school hours or off school grounds in non-school activities. However, it does show that in certain cases, if evidence shows it either could have predicted or prevented such an incident from happening, they could be liable.

Shawnee Mathis, et al. v. Wayne County Board of Education, et al.

After the coach first heard about the incident, he allegedly didn't report it. One boy's parent later told the school, and the 8th-graders who were responsible were suspended for 10 days. The other boy's parent went to the school with concerns about what happened, but the suit alleges the principal didn't seem too troubled by it.

The boys continued to face harassment and were later pulled out of school. The school took some steps to prevent locker room misconduct, but in a disciplinary hearing, a committee of school officials chose not to suspend the 8th-graders for the rest of the basketball season, and the Wayne County Board of Education moved up their reinstatement date.

tudents and families who file suit often face many hurdles in proving a school or district is liable. According to the What this means: S Associated Press, districts in some states - including Virginia and Georgia - have "absolute immunity" from state-level lawsuits, while others, such as Florida, cap amounts schools must pay in damages. It's possible for a school to be held accountable, but it can be a high bar to hit.

Bullying/harassment

Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools

When the victim and her parents filed a harassment complaint with the school, the site's creator was suspended for five days for the so-called "hate website," which violated school bullying, harassment and intimidation policies. She sued, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated, because her site was private and was created outside of school.

"foreseeable " that the website would "create a substantial disruption in the school, " therefore allowing the school to control the student's speech.

Wyke v. Polk County School Board

What happened: The mother of Shawn Wyke, a 13-year-old who died by suicide, sued her son's district in Polk County, Florida, alleging administrators knew he tried to commit suicide twice at school before his death. When the dean of students found out about Wyke's first attempt, he called the student into his office and read Bible verses, according to court documents. He thought they made Wyke feel better and that he did all he could that day.

Wyke's mother sued the school board, the vice principal and the principal, alleging there was inadequate intervention and prevention training for school employees that contributed to her son's wrongful death. A district court ruled the district could be found liable due to a failure to notify Wyke's parents about what happened, and their knowledge of his two attempts made the incident foreseeable.

What this means: Hundreds of students die by suicide each year, and many parents or guardians argue schools could have done more to prevent this. But in the past, courts often haven't deemed schools and districts liable for student suicides unless it was clear officials knew a student was suicidal and did nothing, or if they intentionally made things worse.

However, the sampling of cases to examine is relatively limited. Since this suit was filed, several schools and/or districts are facing legal action for their alleged liability in similar incidents. The outcomes of those cases will reveal a lot about where the line is drawn for schools' and districts' legal responsibilities.

Brewington v. Philadelphia School District

More than a year later, the boy's mother sued the elementary school and the Philadelphia School District, alleging the lack of padding on the gym walls was dangerous and constituted negligence. The school argued it was immune from the suit, but in a December 2018 ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected this claim.

The court said this incident qualified as an exception to the immunity provision, giving the boy's mom a right to sue. According to the "" if an agency doesn't put adequate safety features in place for normal or reasonable use of property, it can be sued. In this case, the court found, the lack of padding could constitute negligence.

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To what extent are districts, schools liable for students' safety?

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While a school's primary goal is to educate students, another priority is providing a safe environment. It's a responsibility enforced in federal, state and local laws, but ultimately, students can - and do - get hurt. And when they do, many blame the school or district.

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Teachers were reportedly shot with pellet guns at an active-shooter training.

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Teachers were reportedly shot with pellet guns at an active-shooter training.

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This was an article attached to Education Dive from the Washington Post. It talks about an active shooter training program at a school in Indiana. The controversy around this training was that teachers were taken to a room and told to crouch down and then were shot point blank by pellets. The aftermath of this event has brought everyone to the table to figure out what and how to train better to protect students. (Stein, March 21, 2019)

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March 21
It was billed as a drill.

But law enforcement officials at an Indiana elementary school reportedly ordered teachers to turn around and crouch and then shot them with plastic pellets, leaving the educators bruised and bloodied during an active-shooter training drill.

Details about the January incident emerged during a Wednesday hearing before state lawmakers on proposed legislation outlining how schools could spend grants from the Indiana safe-schools fund. The measure would require schools to have active-shooter training.

Gail Zeheralis, director of government relations for the Indiana State Teachers Association, testified about a small school district between Indianapolis and Chicago that appeared to take its active-shooter training drill too far.

Sheriff's deputies directed teachers at a Twin Lakes School Corporation elementary school in Monticello, Ind., into a room four at a time, told them to crouch down and then shot them execution-style with pellets in rapid succession, according to Zeheralis's testimony.

"They were injured to the extent that welts appeared and blood was drawn," according to Zeheralis's prepared testimony, which was shared with The Washington Post. "There was screaming."

Zeheralis said teachers waiting outside the room heard their co-workers screaming and then were brought into the room and shot with the pellets. She said the teachers were told not to relay what happened to anyone.

The teachers union, which supports the safe-schools grants, called for an amendment prohibiting drills that include shooting at teachers.

"We believe adding a sentence prohibiting the firing of any projectile during these drills is a sufficient and necessary guideline going forward," Zeheralis's testimony read. "No one in education takes these drills lightly. The risk of harming someone far outweighs whatever added realism may be sought."

Twin Lakes School Corporation offered few details but said in a statement the drill was conducted in partnership with the White County Sheriff's Department. The sheriff's department provided the school staff with ALICE training, which stands for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate."

Twin Lakes School Corporation said it received questions about the training from the local teachers union and arranged a meeting between educators and law enforcement to discuss the incident.

"Twin Lakes looks forward to continuing its important partnerships with the Twin Lakes Classroom Teachers Organization and the White County Sheriff's Department in pursuing a safe environment for all students and employees," the statement read.

The Sheriff's Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department told the Indianapolis Star it had conducted similar training before but that after receiving a complaint, it would no longer use air-powered devices to shoot teachers.

Dan Holub, executive director of the Indiana State Teachers Association, said the proposed legislation and the publicity from the training incident has generated productive conversations about how Indiana can prepare and prevent emergency situations that schools might face.

"It's important that we understand what's happening in our schools," Holub said. "This is a case with extraordinarily poor judgment, and the community has a right to know about it."
Read more: False alarms, real fear: Even without gunfire, active shooter alerts create terror Local newsletters: Local headlines (8 a.m.) | Afternoon Buzz (4 p.m.)
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Teachers were reportedly shot with pellet guns at an active-shooter training

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March 21 It was billed as a drill. But law enforcement officials at an Indiana elementary school reportedly ordered teachers to turn around and crouch and then shot them with plastic pellets, leaving the educators bruised and bloodied during an active-shooter training drill.

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School Safety is a concern with all involved within education. How to protect students and giving them a place to learn without fear. The last few years school shootings have become a major concern of School Safety. Administrators, teachers, and politicians in every state are trying to find the best way to accomplish school safety concerning shootings.

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School Safety is a concern with all involved within education. How to protect students and giving them a place to learn without fear. The last few years school shootings have become a major concern of School Safety. Administrators, teachers, and politicians in every state are trying to find the best way to accomplish school safety concerning shootings.

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Searching the library at ASU, I came across an article from 2014 called "School Shootings and the Legislative push to Arm Teachers". The article looks at the response of state legislatures following the tragedy of Sandy Hook. It discusses how the NRA's advise to protect student's in schools by arming teachers. The article then discuses five states that have chosen to arm teachers

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Rostron, A. (2014). School Shootings and the Legislative Push to Arm Teachers. University of Toledo Law Review, 45(3), 439–455. Retrieved from https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lgh&AN=97359002&site=eds-live

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In researching Legislation that occurs after and because of school shootings to keep schools safe. I came across the Texas Association of School Board website discussing the plans for allowing teachers to be armed. It goes over the Texas Education Codes that discuss school safety and what parameters the Districts must train their employees.

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https://www.tasb.org/Services/Legal-Services/TASB-School-Law-eSource/Business/documents/sch_marshals_and_other_personnel_carrying_firearms.aspx

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School Safety is a major concern of Districts in today's world. The unthinkable attacks on schools have unfortunately become more and more common. After the brutal attack on Sandy Hook in 2012 that took the lives of 20 first-graders and six adults, people wondered if it would leave a lasting effect on people unlike events before (Rostron, 2014, pg. 440). School shootings up to this point outraged people that pushed for legislation change that would protect the schools and children.

After the attack on Sandy Hook revived the debate over school safety. The push for new gun laws intensified in Washington. The NRA after a few days came out with an announcement which people hoped would include stronger gun regulations. Instead Vice President of the NRA Wayne LaPierre stated "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" (Rostron, pg. 441-442). Which led the push to have armed people on campuses around the country.

Which at the time Texas Legislators passed the Marshal program. Which allows one Marshal per 400 students, but has to lock it up during the day if they deal with students the majority of the day. The TASB describes how Districts are allowed to implement the arming of teachers or school personnel. Texas Districts have two options the Marshal or Guardian Program. With either of these programs come concerns of implantation and liabilities for the Districts. Depending on the program that is chosen will depend on how much and what kinds of training is required. One of the requirements for both programs however deals with the mentality of those being allowed to carry. TASB states "a psychological exam is specifically required before an individual may be certified" (TASB, 2018, pg. 11).

School Safety covers more than just school shootings like bullying and cyber rules. School Shootings comes more to mind with people based off of news coverage and legislation. All of these coincide in today's society. Most school shooters have been bullied and things they see on technology. School Safety is more than just one area of a puzzle but just a small piece.

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Rostron, A. (2014). School Shootings and the Legislative Push to Arm Teachers. University of Toledo Law Review, 45(3), 439–455. Retrieved from https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lgh&AN=97359002&site=eds-live

Texas Association of School Boards (June 2018). School Marshals and other District Personnel Carrying Firearms. Retrieved from : https://www.tasb.org/Services/Legal-Services/TASB-School-Law-eSource/Business/documents/sch_marshals_and_other_personnel_carrying_firearms.aspx