On January 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the release of a report on its critical incident review of the law enforcement response to the tragic school shooting at Robb Elementary School. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the review shortly after the tragedy on May 24, 2022, in which 19 children and two teachers died at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The 575-page report is the most thorough description of the critical incident review that has taken place over the past 20 months since the May 2022 school shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

According to the report, “The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24th, 2022 — and the response by officials in the hours and days after — was a failure. As a consequence of failed leadership, training, and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers — many of whom had been shot — were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside. We hope to honor the victims and survivors by working together to try to prevent anything like this from happening again, here or anywhere.”

The report examines the multiple failures in the response to the tragedy, including the breakdowns in leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training that contributed to those failures. It describes the responding officers’ most significant failure as not treating the incident throughout as an active shooter situation and using the available and sufficient resources and equipment to push forward immediately and continuously to eliminate the threat. Although several of the first officers on the scene initially acted consistent with generally accepted practices to try to engage the subject, once they retreated after being met with gunfire, the law enforcement responders began treating the incident as a barricaded subject scenario rather than as an active shooter situation. In all, there was a 77-minute gap between when officers first arrived on the scene and when they finally confronted and killed the subject.

To view the DOJ press release, click here.

On January 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) declined to consider a case on involving an Indiana school district’s policies banning transgender students from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities. It was hoped that SCOTUS would settle the ongoing controversy over the use of student restrooms by transgender students. Presently, confusion over conflicting lower court decisions have created an unsettling atmosphere with regard to whether Title IX allows students to access restroom facilities that differ from their sex assigned at birth. In fact, appellate court decisions are inconsistent, and school districts are adopting policies that vary across the country according to state and local laws.

According to a report by K12 Dive, in deciding not to hear the case, SCOTUS let stand an August 2023 decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, IN and the student’s former principal likely violated Title IX by barring transgender students from bathrooms aligning with their gender identities.

The Metropolitan School District v. A.C. case is not the first of its kind to appear before SCOTUS. In fact, in 2020 SCOTUS decided in the landmark case Bostock v. Clayton County that LGBTQ+ discrimination falls under unlawful sex discrimination in the workplace. However, in Bostock SCOTUS specifically declined to address transgender policies in schools.

Source: K12 Dive and the SCOTUS Blog.

It has been four decades since there has been a major update to the regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education announced a proposed rule revision, which was originally scheduled to be published in August of this year. However, that never materialized and instead a November publication was expected, but never happened.

When it occurs, the Section 504 update will impact requirements in K-12 and higher education for how schools accommodate students with disabilities. Accommodations that can help remove barriers to learning for students with disabilities could include extended time for test taking, the use of a service animal, and a differentiated school day schedule. Section 504 also requires schools to be physically accessible.

In addition, since some K-12 students qualify for both IDEA services and Section 504 accommodations both Section 504 and IDEA aim to protect the civil rights of students with disabilities, it is anticipated by some that clarity will be provided in this regard, with IDEA addressing learning supports and Section 504 protecting students from discriminatory practices. On the other hand, disability rights advocates see more alignment in certain areas of Section 504 as necessary to ensure students’ needs are being met.

Source: K-12 Dive.

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has set a new timeline for the release of both of its final Title IX rules revisions, The release is now expected to occur by March 2024, which 10 months later than its original goal of a May 2023 release. The USDE’s two related, but separate, rules are expected to be issued consecutively at that time.

Of the two rules, the broader rule includes protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, which would be occurring for the first time. The other rule will provide a framework for how schools should address the inclusion of transgender students on athletic teams aligning with their gender identities.

Due to the volume of attention given to these controversial issues and the efforts of conservative policymakers to change or block the rule changes, the issuance was delayed for a second time in October.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.