Public schools don't have a “special relationship” with students that would make them legally obligated to protect students from each other, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in a 10-4 decision upholding a ruling in a Beaver County case.
Bradley and Diedre Morrow of West Mayfield sued the Blackhawk School District in 2010 after the district refused to expel a student who repeatedly attacked one of their daughters, even after the attacker was twice adjudicated delinquent because of the assaults.
In a precedential ruling, a 10-judge majority of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed the March 2011 ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan that schools don't have the same control over students that the government has over inmates and people involuntarily committed for mental health reasons, so it doesn't have the same constitutional duty to protect students from harm.
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/4146203-74/students-judge-ruling