EdLawConnect Blog

In a recent case, Greg Opinski Construction, Inc. vs. City of Oakdale (October, 2011), the California Court of Appeal strengthened the position of public agencies asserting notice of claim requirements against contractors in their public works contracts. The Court based its decision on Civil Code section 1511, which expressly permits a public entity to require the other party to give notices of delay claims caused by the party receiving the notice. The key is that the delay claim requirements must be “reasonable,” and, as the court noted, “just.”

We are occasionally asked about the authority and responsibility of a governing board regarding requests for subpoenas in student expulsion cases.  Though the issue does not arise very often, it is important to understand what is required and what options are available.  The rule can be summarized as follows: Governing boards have an obligation to consider subpoena requests – they cannot have a blanket ...

On December 2, 2011, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice (DOJ) jointly issued guidelines on the voluntary use of race to achieve diversity in postsecondary education and to achieve diversity and avoid racial isolation in elementary and secondary schools within the framework of Titles IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S ...

Sometimes, when the Legislature attempts to impose restrictions on public entities across the board, it results in an “ill fitting” application to school and community college districts.  AB 1344, recently signed into law by Governor Brown, is the most recent example of this phenomenon.  This new law was designed to limit methods of public official enrichment that were utilized by City of Bell administrators, but it is not entirely clear how these limitations will apply both in general and to school administrators specifically.