The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that a school district did not violate the constitutional rights of two students who were subjected to physical assaults, harassment, bullying, and intimidation on the basis of race by fellow students.
Continue reading...An Illinois federal district court has ruled that school district officials did not violate a former high school guidance counselor’s First Amendment free speech or his Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest rights when they dismissed him from his employment based on a “self-help” book he published on relationships.
Continue reading...An Ohio federal district court has granted a school district’s motion for summary judgment in a suit brought by the parents of a high school student who committed suicide, claiming that the student was repeatedly subjected to peer bullying and harassment in violation of her Fourteenth Amendment substantive and procedural due process rights, Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights, Title VI and Title IX rights, and under Section 1983 related to a municipal liability claim based on the failure to train.
Continue reading...A Providence, Rhode Island Superior Court has ruled that a coalition of school districts, parents, and students have failed to state a cause of action under the state constitution’s education clause for challenging the state legislature’s formula for funding public schools.
Continue reading...The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (LA, MS, TX), sitting en banc (all active judges participating in considering and deciding the case), has ruled that a school district did not have a constitutional duty to protect an elementary school student from sexual abuse by a private actor based on the constitutional theory that the school had a special relationship with the student.
Continue reading...Brian and Linda Wilson, the parents of the twin honor roll students, have filed a federal lawsuit against Lee’s Summit R-7 School District (LSR-7SD), says Courthouse News Service, alleging the school district violated their sons’ First and Fourteenth Amendment when it suspended them for 180 days for setting up and running a nonviolent website on their own time and on their own computers. The suit asks a federal court to reinstate the students and remove the suspension from their permanent records.
Continue reading...A federal district court in Massachusetts has ruled that a female student has stated a valid claim for violation of Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process rights, as well as violation of Title IX, based on the student’s sexual relationship with a school guidance counselor, even though the student was over the age of consent at the time of the relationship.
Continue reading...According to Courthouse News Service, Ronald and Arthalia Hatcher claim their son died from abuse suffered at the hands of two special education teachers. They have filed suit in Fulton County State Court against the Fulton County School District, the Fulton County School Board, the district’s superintendent, two special education teachers, and 15 other Fulton County public school employees.
Continue reading...A federal district court in Utah has granted summary judgment in favor of a high school’s special resource officer in a suit brought by the parents of a deceased student claiming that the officer violated the student’s substantive due process rights by creating a danger. The court held that the officer’s actions, i.e., recommending rules for the use of a “blank” firing gun during a school play and assuming they were being followed, not only did not create the danger, but were directed toward eliminating any danger that would have existed in the absence of his recommended rules.
Continue reading...Child Evangelism Fellowship of Arizona (CEF-AZ) has filed suit against Dysart Unified School District (DUSD) in federal court over the school district’s policy that bans the distribution of flyers with a religious message, says the Phoenix New Times. CEF-AZ’s legal complaint alleges that while DUSD allows other community groups to pass out flyers to students, it unconstitutionally discriminates against religious groups.
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