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• Six N.J. counties set up joint training on school security [HTML 2,520kb]
  Cumberland County is taking a lead role in preparing for a school shooting tragedy, joining five other counties in setting up training programs and protocol. Following a massacre at an Amish school in Lancaster County, Pa., a task force was formed in New Jersey in 2006 to make recommendations for greater coordination and interaction between local law enforcement and the education community.
  
• Philadelphia school district accused of violating Gun-Free Schools Act [HTML 4,700kb]
  City and state education officials have defended the Philadelphia School District's limited expulsion of students who bring weapons to schools, dismissing a complaint from a school-safety expert as a misreading of federal law.
  
• Proposed Family Education Rights and Privacy Act regulations [HTML 3,215kb]
  The Department of Education (ED) has issued proposed regulations addressing a range of issues under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the primary federal law governing privacy of student records in schools that receive federal funds.
  
• More states drafting legislation to combat cyberbullying [HTML 4,308kb]
  The suicides of a 13-year-old Missouri girl who was the victim of an Internet hoax and a 13-year-old boy in Vermont bullied online by peers who spread rumors that he was gay—along with complaints from teenagers, parents and educators—are spurring an increasing number of state lawmakers across the USA to draft legislation giving schools more power to do something about bullying over the Internet.
  
• Tennessee study raises questions on school police officers [HTML 2,246kb]
  Local governments that want to establish school police departments will have to determine whether hallway cops will be considered school officials or law enforcement officers.
  
• List of problem teachers is flawed and incomplete [HTML 4,582kb]
  A list considered the best existing tool for education officials to prevent problem teachers from jumping state to state is flawed and incomplete, according to a review by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the first newspaper to gain access to the list.
  
• School Bus Seat Belts [HTML 1,353kb]
  Based on the results of a bus research program detailed in a 2002 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report that examined ways to further improve school bus safety, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is proposing several upgrades to the school passenger crash protection requirements.
  
• Department of Education issues simpler guidance for student privacy law [HTML 5,454kb]
  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued simpler guidance for parents and educators aimed at clearing up widespread confusion about when information may be shared under the main federal student-privacy law.
  
• 2,570 educators had credentials sanctioned or denied over sexual misconduct from 2001-2005 [HTML 6,230kb]
  A seven-month investigation by the Associated Press (AP) of disciplinary records in all 50 states and the District of Columbia has found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered, or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct.
  
• Oregon teacher with license to carry concealed hangun tells court she will be packing a pistol to class [HTML 2,738kb]
  An Oregon teacher with a license to carry a concealed handgun told a state court that she would begin packing a pistol to class by the end of the month, even though school district policy prohibits teachers from carrying firearms in school.
  
• School boards must deal with parents who are convicted sex offenders [HTML 3,935kb]
  School boards across the country are debating how to deal with parents who are convicted sex offenders. The school board in Steele, North Dakota, has yet to make a decision on whether a 28-year-old convicted rapist will be able to attend his children’s school programs or athletic events.
  
• Albuquerque Public Schools police officers win right to carry guns on campus [HTML 2,252kb]
  Albuquerque Public Schools police officers have won their long-fought battle with the Albuquerque Board of Education, allowing the force to carry their guns on campus during school hours.
  
• Oregon teacher argues she has right to carry concealed semiautomatic pistol to classes [HTML 4,155kb]
  An Oregon high school teacher is arguing she has the right to carry a concealed semiautomatic pistol to her classes to protect herself from a violent ex-husband, in a case certain to set off alarm bells in schools across the state.
  
• Virginia tech shooter received special education services in Fairfax County public schools [HTML 3,841kb]
  According to sources familiar with the history of Virginia tech shooter Seung Hui Cho, Fairfax County, Virginia school officials had determined that he suffered from an anxiety disorder so severe that they put him in special education and devised a plan to help, but Virginia Tech was never told of the problem.
  
• Proposal would train and arm teachers as reserve school police officers [HTML 2,720kb]
  A proposal that Nevada teachers be allowed to carry concealed weapons garnered a lot of notoriety but little traction among state lawmakers this year. Now comes this idea: Give bonus pay to teachers, from kindergarten to college, who would be trained and armed as reserve school police officers.
  
• Vehicle accident reporting [HTML 1,622kb]
  The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued regulatory guidance regarding whether an explosion or fire in a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) that has not collided with other vehicles or stationary objects meets the definition of an “accident” under federal regulations, 46 C.F.R. § 390.5.
  
• Immigration raids cause unexpected problem for schools [HTML 5,218kb]
  Immigration raids at many employers are causing an unexpected new problem for public schools.
  
• Seat Belts in School Buses [HTML 1,402kb]
  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is having a public meeting to discuss whether seat belts should be mandated on large school buses.
  
• South Carolina lawmakers push legislation to allow guns in schools [HTML 1,742kb]
  Some South Carolina lawmakers are pushing legislation that would allow people to carry concealed weapons in schools. They say it could prevent massacres like what happened last month at Virginia Tech.
  
• Baltimore City school officials draft safety plan [HTML 3,755kb]
  In response to a mandate that the Maryland Department of Education handed down last summer, Baltimore City school officials have drafted a schools safety plan filled with initiatives they say will address an upswing in student gang violence.
  
• Student's essay containing violent imagery leads to his arrest on disorderly conduct charges [HTML 3,528kb]
  A McHenry County, Illinois high school senior’s essay containing violent imagery has led to his arrest on disorderly conduct charges and his removal from the general student population and placement in a separate building to continue his education.
  
• States consider crackdowns on cyberbullying [HTML 3,617kb]
  States from Oregon to Rhode Island are considering crackdowns to curb or outlaw cyberbullying, the behavior that involves students who taunt or insult peers on social Web sites like MySpace.com or via instant messages.
  
• Oregon sex abuse case becomes catalyst for reform [HTML 3,787kb]
  A 2004 school sex abuse case has become a catalyst for reform efforts in Oregon. When Superintendent Kay Baker of Salem-Keizer Schools in Salem, Oregon, learned that one her of middle school teachers had been arrested for molesting four students, she was taken completely by surprise.
  
• Milwaukee School Board approves project to put police officers in schools [HTML 1,980kb]
  The Milwaukee School Board has given a green light to pilot projects that will put Milwaukee police officers in schools for the first time.
  
• Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families issues final regulations regarding transportation safety waivers [HTML 1,993kb]
  The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has issued final regulations authorizing annual waivers from regulations requiring vehicles used to transport children enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start to have child restraint systems and adult monitors.
  
• School officials at Willett Elementary School ban playground tag [HTML 2,141kb]
  School officials at the Willett Elementary School (WES) in Attleboro, Massachusetts have banned playground tag, touch football, and any other unsupervised chasing games because of the risk of injury and liability for the school.
  
• NCLB's “persistently dangerous” school mandate is plagued with inaccuracies [HTML 5,804kb]
  The federal mandate to identify “persistently dangerous” schools under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is plagued with inaccuracies because local school officials underreport criminal activity on campus and states have established definitions for dangerous schools so high that few, if any, schools are identified.
  
• Under 50% of gay and lesbian students in Pennsylvania that experience harassment report it [HTML 2,723kb]
  A report released by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) finds that gay and lesbian students in Pennsylvania are often bullied and harassed by classmates in school, but less than 50% report the incidents to school officials.
  
• House approves bill requiring school boards to implement student search policies [HTML 3,263kb]
  In a voice vote the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that requires local school boards to implement policies governing student searches or run the risk of losing federal funding.
  
• Poll indicates 13 million children have been "cyber bullied" [HTML 6,946kb]
  A national poll indicates that more than 13 million children between the ages 6 to 17 have been “cyber-bullied,” with 2 million victims telling no one about the threats.
  
• Tennessee district holds in-service training for principals after sexual harassment incident [HTML 3,760kb]
  After an incident in Rutherford County, Tennessee, the school district recently held in-service training for its 40 principals on how to handle sexual harassment and bullying complaints.
  
• Georgia school districts embroiled in enforcement of sex offender law [HTML 3,416kb]
  Thanks to a recent federal court ruling, Georgia's 181 school districts have become embroiled in enforcement of Georgia’s new sex offender law.
  
• Parents sue to overturn ban on students carrying cell phones in schools [HTML 3,114kb]
  Eight parents and an organization of parent association leaders have sued the City of New York's Department of Education (NYED) to overturn a ban on students carrying cell phones in public schools.
  
• Traditional schoolyard games are being banned by schools [HTML 1,857kb]
  A number of traditional schoolyard games played during recess are being banned by schools because they are viewed as dangerous.
  
• Department of Health and Human Services proposes new regulations for Head Start transportation [HTML 2,449kb]
  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed regulations incorporating a new definition of "good cause" for waivers from regulations requiring vehicles used to transport children enrolled in Head Start to have child restraint systems and adult monitors.
  
• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration adopts final rule regarding school bus driver knowledge and skills test [HTML 2,476kb]
  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has adopted an interim final rule regarding the knowledge and skills tests school bus drivers must pass to receive Commercial Driver's License school bus endorsements.
  
• Massachusetts Attorney General's Office implements pilot program to address bullying and harassment [HTML 2,989kb]
  With incidents of bullying and harassment increasing, the civil rights division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AG) is implementing a pilot program in three local school districts to address such incidents.
  
• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration withdraws notice of proposed rulemaking [HTML 2,389kb]
  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has withdrawn a notice of proposed rulemaking that would have prohibited drivers of commercial motor vehicles from driving onto highway-railroad grade crossings without sufficient space to drive completely through the crossing without stopping.
  
• Department of Justice rule requires all sex offenders to register [HTML 1,845kb]
  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued an interim rule requiring sex offenders to register pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), even if they were convicted of the relevant offenses before the statute was enacted.
  
• Six schools in Independence, Missouri have policies that prohibit parents from visiting classrooms [HTML 1,605kb]
  Confronted with a report that six schools in Independence, Missouri have policies that prohibit parents from visiting classrooms while teaching is taking place, Superintendent Jim Hinson says, "Principals do not have the autonomy to ban all parents."
  
• Law designed to keep sexual predators off Florida school grounds affects business with contractors [HTML 3,075kb]
  A law designed to keep sexual offenders and predators off Florida school grounds is forcing school boards across the state to change the way they conduct business with vendors and contractors.
  
• Maine's governor signs bill aimed at preventing bullying in schools [HTML 2,211kb]
  Governor John Baldacci of Maine has signed into law a bill aimed at preventing bullying in schools.
  
• Provision in new Florida law will require fingerprint checks of any contractor working on school grounds around children [HTML 2,940kb]
  A small provision in a new Florida law that takes effect September 1, 2005 will require fingerprint checks of any vendor or contractor working on public school grounds when children are present.