Education

ISBE Cuts Off Reimbursements for Hearing Officer Ordered Placements in Non-Approved Special Education Facilities

February 19, 2020

On February 14, 2020, ISBE issued notice that it will no longer provide reimbursement for students placed at non-approved special education facilities, even if the placement is ordered by a hearing officer. In a brief memorandum to Illinois special education due process hearing officers and state directors of special education, ISBE announced the change, which is effective immediately. This change will have important impacts on Illinois public schools. In Illinois, districts can receive reimbursement from…

Special Education Law Insights

ISBE Approves Revised Proposed Rules on Physical Restraint and Time Out

By Kendra Yoch & Dana Fattore Crumley

February 19, 2020

On February 18, 2020, ISBE approved revised proposed rules related to the use of physical restraint and time out in schools. The revised proposed rules follow ISBE’s receipt and review of over three hundred comments on the initial proposed rules and include several significant changes, most notably permitting isolated time out in specific circumstances. The revised proposed rules next go to JCAR for Second Notice and will be considered at an upcoming JCAR meeting. If…

School Law

Connecticut School Districts Experience an Influx of Unaccompanied Minors

By Natalia Sieira-Millan & Tyler Bischoff

February 19, 2020

New federal data show that the number of unaccompanied minors coming to Connecticut nearly tripled from 2018 to 2019. As the numbers continue to increase, it is important to keep in mind the significant obligations that public school districts have to those students, both federally and under state law. Federal Guidance Federal law requires that state and local educational agencies provide all children with equal access to public education at the elementary and secondary level.…

Title IX Insights

Should You OPEN Your Institution’s Doors to OCR: New Civil Rights Office Raises Questions

By Jackie Gharapour Wernz

February 16, 2020

The U.S. Department of Education has created a “new, proactive” civil rights compliance center within its Office for Civil Rights. The Department describes the Outreach, Prevention, Education and Non-discrimination, or OPEN, Center as an effort to “support[ ] school districts, colleges, and those closest to students” by providing educational institutions “technical assistance to help them come into compliance with federal civil rights laws prior to the filing of a complaint.” Yet OCR retains the right to…

School Law

Ninth Circuit Upholds District’s Imposition of Parent Communication Plan

By Dori Pagé Antonetti & Peter J. Maher

February 13, 2020

School districts often grapple with how to handle communications from a minority of parents who send voluminous and uncivil messages to their children’s teachers and other school staff. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently addressed one public school district’s plan to address such communications from a particularly difficult parent. In L.F. v. Lake Washington School District #414, 947 F.3d 621 (9th Cir. 2020), the court held that the school district did…

McGeorge @ Work

Study Abroad: A Once In A Lifetime Experience

By RydderK

February 13, 2020

“Studying abroad is a marvelous way to immerse yourself in another culture, to challenge yourself to learn how people in other cultures live and experience life, and to learn how to communicate effectively across cultures. As the world gets smaller, it becomes progressively more important for American lawyers to have these skills to serve their clients effectively, both at home and abroad.” – Jeff Proske | Associate Dean of Administration, McGeorge School of Law Having…

Special Education Law Insights

Threat Assessments: Three Key Issues for Illinois Schools

By Dana Fattore Crumley, Kendra Yoch & Jackie Gharapour Wernz

February 13, 2020

Is your school threat assessment team in place and ready to act in order to meet upcoming legal deadlines? Does it understand the interaction between threat assessments and special education evaluations? Is it adequately prepared so that your school will not be the next one in the media spotlight for a threat assessment gone wrong? In this post, we highlight three key issues involving threat assessment and describe upcoming opportunities to learn what you need…

School Law

CAS Legal Mailbag Question of the Week – 2/12/2020

By Thomas B. Mooney

February 12, 2020

Dear Legal Mailbag: As the principal of an elementary school, I have had my difficulties with permission slips for various field trips. More than once, we have had a young student in the office in tears while we frantically try to track down a parent who did not return the permission slip. When we can, we let the student go on the trip, figuring that verbal permission is better than none. I was talking to…

School Law

Julie Fay and Dori Pagé Antonetti Author NAIS Legal Tip of the Week

By Julie C. Fay & Dori Pagé Antonetti

February 5, 2020

Julie Fay and Dori Pagé Antonetti authored the NAIS Legal Tip of the Week article, “Pay Attention to the Truth in Lending Act When Offering Tuition Payment Plans.” Click here to read the full article.…

School Law

CAS Legal Mailbag Question of the Week – 2/5/2020

By Thomas B. Mooney

February 5, 2020

Dear Legal Mailbag: I try to be fair in dealing with teacher concerns, big and small. But the latest complaint has me stumped. One of my teachers woke up from a deep sleep and realized that she has been paid on the wrong track of the salary schedule for the last eight years. She has had her Sixth Year degree throughout her employment with my school district, and she should have been placed on the…