EdLawConnect Blog

In the wake of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked Los Angeles Unified School District in February of 2012, legislators introduced several bills to streamline the dismissal and suspension procedures for certificated public school employees, particularly for incidents involving sexual misconduct. The allegations of sexual assaults against elementary students at Miramonte Elementary School in South ...

In the wake of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked Los Angeles Unified School District in February of 2012, legislators introduced several bills to streamline the dismissal and suspension procedures for certificated public school employees, particularly for incidents involving sexual misconduct. The allegations of sexual assaults against elementary students at Miramonte Elementary School in South Los Angeles sparked public outcry over the certificated employee dismissal process when one of the alleged molesters, a third grade teacher, settled the teacher dismissal proceeding against him for $40,000. The settlement highlighted the difficulties school districts face in conducting dismissal proceedings, even in cases involving egregious allegations.

In our April 2012 post we touched on the dangers of over-identifying and misidentifying students who may or may not be eligible for special education and related services. For May, we’ll explore the opposite side of the coin: failing to seek out and identify students.

In an effort to help spur local economic growth and opportunity, especially during times of financial hardship, there have been many inquiries into whether school and community college districts may impose local vendor bid preferences on their bids.

Pursuant to Public Contract Code sections 20111 and 20651, school and community college districts are required to competitively bid any contract involving ...

In Renee v. Duncan (Renee III), issued May 10, 2012, the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that a Department of Education regulation allowing "intern teachers" to meet the No Child Left Behind ("NCLB") definition of highly qualified continued to violate the text of NCLB, but acknowledged that a 2010 action by Congress amended federal law, at least temporarily, to permit the Department of ...

On any given day, an online search for "sexting" news will likely not only uncover several sexting incidents, but a "scandal" and/or criminal activity. Since sexting seems to have originated as a teen phenomenon, educational institutions are often vulnerable to becoming involved in the news coverage and scandal, particularly if the sexting results in mass expulsions, the mishandling of evidence ...

We are periodically asked whether a "weekly update" memorandum which many superintendents distribute to school district governing board members violates the Brown Act. As a general rule, a weekly update distributed to Board members will not violate the Brown Act unless the memo communicates the "comments or position" of a Board member to other members.

Consider the following scenario: In response to a ...