WAVE July 12, 2016

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to problems in schools. And
we’re not talking about one or
two isolated incidents. Look
what’s happening all over the
country:

Trump’s rhetoric Thwarting bullying is hard • Things got out of hand at a
revs up bullying: enough, but the ongoing cov- boys’ basketball game be-
10 ways to prepare erage of this year’s election is tween two private schools in
turning into a media circus – Indiana. Andrean High School
Feds offer action plan for and that’s likely to make your hosted Bishop Noll. During
staffers job harder this fall. the game, Andrean students
held up a Donald Trump Fat-
head and taunted Noll, which
has a large Latino population.
Andrean students chanted
“Build a wall” and “Speak
English.” In response, Noll
students chanted back,
“You’re a racist.”

Election Day is Nov. 8 – and In recent months, pre-
it’s probably going to be a sumptive GOP nominee
very long four months for Donald Trump has been
school officials, as this elec- compared to a school-
tion is taking divisiveness to yard bully. Unfortu-
a whole new level. nately, his alienating
rhetoric has already led

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• A group of Iowa students
disrupted a basketball game
between Dallas Center-
Grimes and Perry High
School, which has many
Latinos in its student body.
The Dallas fans chanted
“Trump! Trump! Trump!” and
“USA” to Perry players, who
also reported fans were re-
peating Trump’s comments
on deporting immigrants.

• In North Carolina, Latino
students were upset by a
senior “prank” at McDowell
High School. A group of
about 30 seniors built a wall
with cardboard boxes. They
took a photo of themselves
in front of the wall and
posted it on Instagram with
the caption: “We built the
wall first.” One student – sit-
ting front and center in the
picture – wore a Trump T-
shirt.

• In Virginia, an upset mother High School, a diverse school steps
said her third-grader was where more than half of the
pointed out as “an immigrant student body is black or His- Hopefully, you’ll be able to
who would be sent home panic. Elkhorn students avoid problems like the ones
when Donald Trump be- chanted, “Donald Trump, listed above.
comes president” by two build that wall” to Beloit play-
classmates at a Fairfax ers. Elkhorn administrators
County School. The teacher said it will take appropriate
notified the child’s mother action after its investigation is
and talked to the students complete.
who made the comments.
Feds offer help: 10 action
• Wisconsin school officials
are investigating after racist
chants interrupted a girls’
soccer game between
Elkhorn and Beloit Memorial

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But the reality is, language on the cam- HATE SPEECH 2. Contact information, including a tele-
paign trail usually gets uglier as time phone number, that parents can use to
goes on. Question: How many students obtain more information on the media-
said they were targeted with tion process.
The U.S. Department of Justice has re- hate-related words at school
leased steps to take to prevent and re- this past year? 3. Information on how parents can get
duce instances of hate-based crimes Source: Indicators of School pro bonop or low cost legal services for
and bullying, including: Crime & Safety the mediation process.

1. Take all incidents seriously, and re-
port hate crimes to police.

2. Reach out to particularly vulnerable
student groups in your school. Conduct
a full assessment of tensions at your
school.

3. Hold open office hours for students Just over 7% of Latino students said Feds release new
to share concerns and perspectives they were targeted by hate speech last school security toolkit
with administrators and counselors. year. That number is expected to grow
this year during election time. The U.S. Department of Education an-
4. Make periodic public statements nounced a new tool to improve schools’
about your school’s policy against dis- Disputed IEP’s? 3 new steps emergency management efforts – and
crimination and harassment. schools must take it won’t cost you a dime.

5. Be alert to early warning signs that In Maryland, Governor Lawrence J. The Readiness and Emergency Man-
may indicate conflicts, including graffiti, Hogan, Jr. has signed HB 551, effective agement for Schools (REMS) Technical
an increase in interracial fighting and July 1, 2016. Assistance Center has created a new
conflicts over language, dress and hair- The legislation outlines steps that virtual toolkit for school officials. It cov-
styles. schools must take when parents dis- ers:
gree with their child’s IEP or the special
6. Maintain and use a checklist of “crisis education services offered to the child. • developing high-quality emergency
indicators” tailored to your own school’s When a dispute arises, the IEP team operations plans (EOPs)
population. must provide: • engaging youth and the school com-
1. An oral and plain-English written ex- munity, and
7. Survey students and staff about po- planation of a parent’s right to request • connecting with outside emergency
tential sources of racial tension. mediation. personnel, such as police, fire officials
and first responders. The REMS toolkit
8. Provide hate prevention training to aims to help school officials:
students through age-appropriate • promote the dissemination of current
classroom activities, assemblies and and consistent information on school
other school activities. emergency management at the state
level
9. Provide hate prevention training to all • have access to the latest information,
faculty and staff. resources and training, and
• develop high-quality EOPs, engage
10. Review/revise plans and protocols youth and the community and connect
with local police for responding to with outside emergency personnel.
demonstrations and special events.

Go to bit.ly/DOJ103 to download the
feds’ guidanc

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Police foiled school shooting likely to find you. 2. put down any items in their hands
plot: Teen arrested (i.e., bags, jackets)
3. Fight: As a last resort, and only when
Washington D.C. police have arrested your life is in imminent danger, attempt 3. immediately raise their hands and
a 17-year-old boy who allegedly threat- to disrupt and/or incapacitate the spread their fingers
ened to kill his ex-girlfriend and then to shooter.
4. keep their hands visible at all times

5. avoid making quick movements to-
ward officers and making physical con-
tact with them

“shoot up” Eleanor Roosevelt High 6. avoid pointing, screaming and/or
School in Maryland. yelling, and

At the unidentified teen’s home, police 7. avoid stopping to ask officers for help
found an AK-47 and 180 rounds of am- or direction when evacuating.
munition.

School officials sent a letter to parents What to expect when police arrive Following is a LINK to an FBI report
about the incident. on all Active Shooter incidents be-
When police arrive, they may:
Crisis hits, help arrives — 7 tween 2000 and 2013.
rules staff, students must be 1. wear regular patrol uniforms or exter-
nal bulletproof vests and other tactical http://anyflip.com/mhqp/rqyw/
taught today equipment.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Se- 2. be armed with rifles, shotguns and/or
curity (DHS) has developed an hour- handguns.
long independent course entitled,
“Active Shooter: What You Can Do.” 3. use pepper spray or tear gas to con-
trol the situation, and
In it, the feds cover “Run, Hide, Fight,”
which is recommended in the latest fed- 4. shout commands and push people to
eral guidance for schools’ emergency the ground for their safety.
operations plans.
7 rules to follow
As a review, in an active shooter situa-
tion, you must quickly determine the For these reasons, DHS says it’s crucial
best way to protect your students and that school employees and students re-
yourself: spond appropriately when officers arrive
at the scene. Train everyone to:
1. Run: If there is an accessible escape
path, evacuate the premises. 1. remain calm, and follow the police of-
ficers’ instructions
2. Hide: If evacuation isn’t possible, find
a place to hide where the shooter is less

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Student beaten as initiation:
Mom blames school

Online Active Shooter Course for non-law enforcement employees to Disciplining a student by not letting him
take should they be confronted with an run in a track meet didn’t create a dan-
Federal Emergency Management active shooter situation. ger, so the student’s due process claim
Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the was properly dismissed by a Massa-
United States Department of Homeland Course Objectives: chusetts court, the First Circuit has af-
Security and they have developed an firmed.
online training course; IS-907: Active Upon completing this course, the partic-
Shooter: What You Can Do. ipant will be able to: Attack caught on camera

The course takes one hour to complete 1. Describe actions to take when con- R.M. was attacked by several class-
and several tests are required before fronted with an active shooter and re- mates. The incident was captured on
you reach the final exam. sponding law enforcement officials. camera. The footage showed R.M.
being dragged to the ground, and
Before you can take the course you 2. Recognize potential workplace vio- kicked in the head and stomach.
need a FEMA SID (Student Identifica- lence indicators.
tion Number) which you can apply for The principal investigated and talked to
at: 3. Describe actions to take to prevent with R.M.’s mom. Turns out, the attack-
and prepare for potential active shooter ers called themselves the Kool-Aid
https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid incidents. Club, and R.M. had agreed to the beat-
ing as a part of initiation into their club.

Course overview: 4. Describe how to manage the conse- The principal told R.M.’s mother that he
quences of an active shooter incident. wasn’t the aggressor and he wasn’t in
An active shooter is an individual ac- trouble, per se. But the principal wasn’t
tively engaged in killing or attempting to Primary audience: all individuals, man- happy with R.M.’s behavior because he
kill people in a confined and other pop- agers, directors, administrators, staff… “delayed the investigation” by not being
ulated area. In most cases, active upfront about the situation. As a result,
shooters use firearms and there is no CEUs: 0.1 he wasn’t allowed to participate in one
pattern or method to their selection of track meet.
victims. Active shooter situations are Certification after the final exam.
unpredictable and evolve quickly. R.M. said the Kool-Aid Club said they’d
COURSE LINK get back at him for snitching. They
All employees can help prevent and called him names and tripped him in the
prepare for potential active shooter sit- https://emilms.fema.gov/IS90 halls. The principal investigated and
uations. This course provides guidance 7/curriculum/1.html found they did. The suit does not men-
to individuals, including managers and tion any discipline imposed.
employees, so that they can prepare to
respond to an active shooter situation. R.M.’s mother sued, alleging several
claims, including a violation of her son’s
This course is not written for law en- due process rights. She said the school
forcement officers, but for non-law en- “turned a blind eye” to the bullying that
forcement employees. The material R.M. endured.
may provide law enforcement officers
information on recommended actions When the court tossed the claim, R.M.’s
mother appealed.

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Exception doesn’t apply on the bus or at a school-sponsored District settles racial bias
event and must disrupt the education claim of white student
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that process.
a school’s “failure to protect an individ- In New York, a Long
ual against private violence” doesn’t Kentucky 2016 Regular Session, Ch. Island district has
amount to a violation of due process. 81. S.B. 228. Kentucky Revised agreed to pay an
But an exception applies if the school Statutes § 158.148. undisclosed sum to a
created the danger. For this exception white student who
to apply, the school must take action Latino students: Senior prank said school officials
that put the student in a dangerous sit- is no laughing matter turned a blind eye to
uation. the abuse he suf-
A principal has apologized — but sen- fered at the hands of black students.
R.M.’s mother argued that the school iors won’t face discipline for this Insta-
acted by imposing discipline – as R.M. gram post. During the 2008 and 2009 school years,
wasn’t allowed to run in the track meet. the student was often called “white boy”
In North Carolina, two Latino students and “cracker” by black classmates, ac-
But court rejected the argument, ex- were upset by a senior “prank” at Mc- cording to the suit.
plaining that the school’s discipline Dowell High School.
didn’t put R.M. in a dangerous situation. It also alleged that the boy was physi-
So the claim was properly dismissed, A group of about 30 seniors built a wall cally assaulted several times – but
the court held. with cardboard boxes. school officials ignored his pleas for
help because he was a white student in
Morgan v. Town of Lexington, MA, No. They took a photo of themselves in front a school district where the student body
15-2174 (1st Cir. 5/23/16). of the wall and posted it on Instagram is predominantly black.

What does – and doesn’t –
amount to bullying? One

state explains

One effective way to explain what
something is: Include what it isn’t.

A Kentucky law clarifies: bullying with the caption: “We built the wall first.”
shouldn’t be interpreted to “prohibit civil
exchange of opinions or debate or cul- One student – sitting front and center in
tural practices protected under the state the photo – wore a Trump T-shirt.
or federal Constitution where the opin-
ion expressed does not otherwise … The students met with the principal,
disrupt the education process.” who apologized for the situation.

Under the law, “bullying” refers to un- But a spokesperson for the district said
wanted verbal, physical, or social be- the students would not be disciplined,
havior that involves a real or perceived as “there’s not anything offensive in the
power imbalance. photo.”

The conduct is – or has the potential to
be – repeated. It must occur at school,

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New discipline rules Student’s wheelchair flips: Cara appealed, saying she was entitled
tie teachers’ hands to qualified immunity. Did the appellate
Was teacher to blame? “Come in,” prin- court overturn the lower court’s ruling?
Heads up: Many school officials need to cipal Heather Marks said as special ed
study a brand new set of rules — be- teacher Cara McGhee knocked on the ANSWER on Page 9
cause student discipline just got a office door. “Let’s go over what hap-
whole lot trickier! pened the day of the accident again.” School official OK’d drug sale
with ‘marked’ money: Can she
The New York Department of Education “As you know, Suzy is wheelchair- be fired?
(DOE) has adopted a student discipli- bound,”
nary code that aims to keep students in Although an alternative school program
the classroom. director’s misconduct was “serious,” a
California appeals court found it was
unlikely to recur. So it affirmed a ruling
that ordered the district to reinstate her.

Cara began. “I was taking her and an- Pamela McMackin was a program ad-
other special ed student – Teresa – ministrator at an alternative school with
down to the tulip-planting ceremony at a drug presence.
the new sign at the school’s main en-
trance.” Rumors of drug exchange

Under the new code: “Right,” Heather agreed. “Then what A teacher came to McMackin to report
happened?” a possible drug sale between two stu-
1. students can’t be suspended for one- dents. An investigation found the girl
time, low-level offenses Other students get into spat who planned to purchase the drugs ad-
mitted she was irritated with the other
2. maximum suspensions for mid-level “When we got there, Teresa started act- kid because he’d allegedly sold her
infractions – pushing, drawing graffiti – ing up,” Cara continued. “She started “bad drugs.” McMackin approved the
will be reduced from 10 days to 5 days choking the student who was standing sale and told the girl to mark the bill
for young students, and in front of her. So I turned to break them she’d use to pay.
up.”
3. no students will be suspended for The teacher argued against the plan
transgressions like being late, being ab- “That’s when the accident happened?” and suggested conducting a search as
sent without a note, talking back to Heather asked. an alternative.
teachers or carrying cell phones.
“Yeah,” Cara confirmed. “When I let go But the deal went through as planned.
The code requires teachers to intervene of Suzy’s wheelchair, it rolled down the McMackin watched the transaction in
quickly to correct behavior. It also en- hill and flipped over. the lunchroom. The girl used the
courages teachers to counsel students marked bill to pay, and the boy was
before resorting to punishment. “It happened so quickly, I just couldn’t searched after the sale. He had the
stop it,” she concluded. marked bill, admitted he sold drugs and
begged McMackin not to call the police,
“I’m really sorry Suzy got hurt,” Cara promising to change
went on, “but I can’t believe her parents
are suing me personally. I mean, I didn’t
intentionally do anything wrong.”

“I know,” Heather assured her. “I’m sur-
prised the judge refused to grant immu-
nity. I think an appeal is definitely in
order.”

“Yeah,” Cara said. “I agree.”

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She believed him and didn’t call the po- The footage showed R.M. being R.M.’s mother argued that the school
lice. Later that day, McMackin felt un- dragged to the ground and kicked in the acted by imposing discipline – as R.M.
comfortable with her actions. She met head and stomach. wasn’t allowed to run in the track meet.
with her supervisor, explained what
happened, took responsibility and coop- The principal investigated and talked to But the court rejected the argument, ex-
erated with an investigation. R.M.’s mom. plaining that the school’s discipline
didn’t put R.M. in a dangerous situation.
After she received notification of intent Turns out, the attackers called them- So the claim was properly dismissed,
to terminate, McMackin asked for a selves the Kool-Aid Club and R.M. had the court held.
hearing. The Commission agreed she’d agreed to the beating as a part of initia-
made a serious error, but found it wasn’t tion into their club. Morgan v. Town of Lexington, MA, No.
likely to recur. It ordered the district to 15-2174 (1st Cir. 5/23/16).
reinstate McMackin. The principal told R.M.’s mother that he
wasn’t the aggressor and he wasn’t in Safety problems disrupt
Court upholds reinstatement trouble, per se. graduation ceremonies

The case reached the California Court But the principal wasn’t happy with High school graduation is a once-in-a-
of Appeals, which upheld the reinstate- R.M.’s behavior because he “delayed lifetime moment – so you’d expect that
ment, noting McMackin came forward the investigation” by not being up front adults in the crowd would respect stu-
on her own shortly after the incident and about the situation. dents’ achievements, right?
admitted her mistake. The court deter-
mined this incident was isolated and As a result, he wasn’t allowed to partic- Here are two instances where things
wasn’t likely to be repeated. The ruling ipate in one track meet. got out of hand.
to reinstate her was affirmed.
R.M. said the Kool-Aid Club said they’d In Louisiana
Bellflower Unified School Dist. v. Com- get back at him for snitching. They
mission on Professional Competence, called him names and tripped him in the At East Ascension High School’s grad-
No. B26523, 2016 WL 1706727, (Cal. halls. uation ceremony, a fight broke out be-
Ct. App. 4/26/16) tween parents in the crowd. The
The principal investigated and found incident was captured on cell phone
Student beaten as initiation: they did. The suit does not mention any videos, and police are reviewing the
Mom blames school discipline imposed. footage. “Young people worked for four
years to have a brief moment of recog-
Disciplining a student by not letting him R.M.’s mother sued, alleging several nition at their graduation ceremony,” city
run in a track meet didn’t create a dan- claims, including a violation of her son’s police chief Sherman Jackson said. “To
ger, so the student’s due process claim due process rights. She said the school have that moment turned into this is in-
was properly dismissed by a Massa- “turned a blind eye” to the bullying that excusable.”
chusetts court, the First Circuit has af- R.M. endured.
firmed. The investigation is ongoing.
When the court tossed the claim, R.M.’s
Attack caught on camera mother appealed. In Kansas

R.M. was attacked by several class- Exception doesn’t apply A man brought a gun concealed in his
mates. The incident was captured on sock to the graduation ceremony at Au-
camera. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that gusta High School. When he adjusted
a school’s “failure to protect an individ- the weapon, it accidentally discharged.
ual against private violence” doesn’t The man shot himself and a woman
amount to a violation of due process. seated in the crowd. Both suffered non-
But an exception applies if the school life-threatening injuries. Police said the
created the danger. man is likely to face a misdemeanor
charge since it’s illegal to carry firearms
For this exception to apply, the school on school grounds.
must take action that put the student in
a dangerous situation. The investigation continues.

9

Yes, the court overturned the rul- Congratulations to the Long Branch High School Jazz Band for their
ing and held Cara was entitled to outstanding performance in West End at the end of June.
immunity.
Cameron Hills, #50, a 2016 graduate of Long Branch High
As a general rule, educators have School was selected to play in the 2016 All-Shore, All-Star
“qualified immunity” to personal in-
jury suits. Simply put, the charges football game sponsored by the U.S. Army
can’t stick – unless they failed to
follow school policy. To see if im-
munity is appropriate, courts look
at whether decisions are “discre-
tionary” or “ministerial.”

Decisions are discretionary when
teachers have authority to make
judgment calls – which means im-
munity is appropriate. But when
policy dictates what must be done,
that’s a ministerial decision – and
teachers aren’t entitled to immu-
nity if policies aren’t followed.

Suzy’s parents argued Cara vio-
lated a rule that said she had to
keep her hands on their daugh-
ter’s wheelchair until the brake
was set – but no evidence showed
such a rule existed. Moreover, it’s
well established that “supervising
and disciplining schoolchildren
constitute discretionary acts,” the
court held.

So Cara was entitled to immunity.

Analysis: No fault for good-faith
judgment calls

The U.S. Supreme Court has ex-
plained that the purpose of immu-
nity is to give educators “breathing
room to make reasonable but mis-
taken [good-faith] judgment” calls.