Michigan Affirmative Action Ban Upheld By U.S. Supreme Court
Michigan’s affirmative action ban, a Constitutional amendment enacted through referendum during the 2006 election cycle, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. The decision means that public...
View ArticleNSBA to OCR: Standard for Addressing Requests for Technology by Students With...
Readers of our FR Alerts may remember my colleague Kendra B. Yoch authored an Alert in 2013 about a set of outlier cases in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, K.M. v. Tustin Unified School District...
View ArticlePAC Upholds School District’s Decision to Deny FOIA Request for Text Messages
Last month, the Public Access Counselor released a decision on the subject of when text messages can be obtained from a public body through a FOIA request. The decision was non-binding, but nonetheless...
View ArticleParents Can Litigate IDEA Claims When Adult Students Have Delegated Education...
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, recently held that even where a disabled student has reached the age of majority under state law, his...
View ArticleNYSED Releases Memo on Selection and Appointment of Impartial Hearing Officers
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) released a filed advisory memo on the selection and appointment of impartial hearing officers to conduct a special education due process hearing....By:...
View ArticleEverything That You Ever Wanted to Know About The Attorney-Client Privilege...
As a self-described FOIA nerd, I have written in these pages about issues pertaining to the effect of the Freedom of Information Act [“FOIA”] on the attorney-client privilege (and vice versa). In a...
View ArticlePass the Trash: A Summary of the Employment History Review Requirements Under...
Act 168 of 2014, the “Pass the Trash” Act, creates increased responsibilities and procedures a school district must follow when hiring new employees. The purpose of the Act is to eliminate the practice...
View ArticleOSEP Provides Guidance on Parent’s Right to an Independent Educational...
The topic of independent educational evaluations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) has, now more than ever, become one of the most discussed and debated topics in special...
View ArticleCAS Legal Mailbag Question of the Week – May 22, 2015.
Dear Legal Mailbag: My school district is quite affluent, and parents here are quite engaged in their children’s education, which has its blessings and its challenges. One of the challenges here is the...
View ArticleHow Does the Supreme Court’s Recent Facebook Decision Impact Schools?
In a recent decision, Elonis v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court held that in order to convict a man for alleged threats made against his wife on Facebook, the prosecutor must show some level of...
View ArticleSignificant Changes to Law Concerning Physical Restraint and Seclusion in...
The Legislature has passed Public Act No. 15-141: An Act Concerning Seclusion and Restraint in Schools(the “Act”), which makes significant changes to the law and regulations governing physical...
View ArticleTwo Recent Decisions Provide Guidance on How School Districts Should Respond...
Two recent decisions from our neighbors in Indiana and Michigan provide guidance on what courts may expect from school districts responding to allegations of sexual assault. Pursuant to Title IX of the...
View ArticleU.S. Department of Education Weighs in Against an Oregon Bill which would...
The question of the ability of students to “opt out” of mandated standardized testing is one that occupied many school districts during Connecticut’s most recent round of statewide testing. The U.S....
View ArticleLegislature Passes Early Warning Bills for Financially Distressed School...
The Michigan Legislature recently passed a package of bills to create an early warning system to identify the potential for financial distress in local school districts, intermediate school districts...
View ArticleMichigan Governor Signs Early Warning Legislation for Financially Distressed...
On July 7, Michigan Governor Snyder signed into law a package of bills, all with immediate effect and most with a tie bar to at least one of the other bills in the package, creating an early warning...
View ArticleOSEP Dear Colleague Letter Reminds Districts to Consider Speech/Language...
The Office for Special Education Programs (“OSEP”) within the U.S. Department of Education recently issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” indicating its concern that students with autism may not be...
View ArticleSupreme Court Affirms Ruling That School District Has Duty To Transport...
Watts v. Manheim Central School District, 112 MAP 2014 (Pa. 2015). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed an earlier ruling of the Commonwealth Court that, when a school district provides...
View ArticleFamily Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Regardless of what type of legal or physical custody a parent exercises, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), all parents are provided with certain rights surrounding their...
View ArticleSEE YOU IN COURT! - September 2015
The members of the Nutmeg Board of Education are a conscientious group, and they want to know everything about the operation of the Nutmeg Public Schools. For his part, Mr. Superintendent has tried to...
View ArticleIllinois Supreme Court Rules Local Land Use Codes Apply to School Districts
In a long-anticipated decision, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on September 24, 2015, that school districts are subject to municipal zoning and land use regulations. The decision in Gurba v....
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