J.T. Alexander@JTAlexander_
Under Federal law, schools have less obligation to protect kids than prisons have to protect inmates.
I've written before about Middle Bucks, which I encourage people to look into, but this case looks closer to Morrow v. Balaski.
While in Middle Bucks, the crimes were more severe and the environment such an obviously bad idea, I find in Morrow the school's culpability was much worse.
Brittany & Emily Morrow were two girls that had an issue with a girl named Shaquana Anderson. Shaquana had assaulted Brittany in a lunch room back in January 2008. Shaquana was charged as a juvenile, adjudicated delinquent, and put on probation with orders to stay away from Brittany.
School administrators had encouraged the Morrows to seek legal remedies and a restraining order, saying that such an order would enable the school to keep the girls apart. The Morrows relied on this, kept their girls at school, and expected Shaquana to be long gone by the time classes resumed in September.
Despite the school having an actual policy in place that *required* the expulsion of a student that committed a criminal offense, Shaquana was welcomed back on campus that fall.
Immediately, she assaulted Brittany and Emily again; once on a school bus, once pushing one of them down stairs, and I believe there were further assaults I cannot recall in addition to this.
Finally, after Brittany was elbowed in the throat in September 2008 (all of these assaults happened within the first month of the school year), the school basically told the Morrows that there was nothing they could do.
The Morrows were forced to transfer to a private school just to keep their kids safe.
The family ultimately sued the school, asserting that the girls were denied their civil rights to a safe school environment. The Third Circuit held that there's no such thing.
You see, if you're in prison the Government has a "Special Relationship," by virtue of the fact that you have no choice to be there. This Special Relationship creates a civil right to a reasonably safe environment.
Despite the fact school attendance is legally required, despite the fact students surrender numerous rights while on campus, despite the fact these students spend most of their youth in these schools—that "Special Relationship" doesn't exist.
So, then the only way the schools are liable under this theory is if they created the danger. I'd argue that in both Morrow and Middle Bucks, the school did, in fact, create the danger through sheer incompetence.
But, I'm unfortunately not a Federal Judge, so my opinion doesn't matter.
Homeschool your kids.