EdLawConnect Blog

As the 2014-2015 school year draws to a close, many school districts are planning their training and professional development calendars for 2015-2016. One new requirement is mandatory Child Abuse Reporting and Detection training. Assembly Bill 1432 became law on January 1, 2015 and requires all local educational agencies — school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools (LEAs) — ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on May 6 a pilot program to digitally transmit documents related to employment discrimination charges. The program, called ACT Digital, will roll out in 11 of EEOC’s 53 offices by the end of this month. Only one of the pilot program locations, EEOC’s San Francisco office, is in California.

The EEOC enforces federal laws that prohibit ...

California is home to over 150,000 active duty military personnel in more than 30 military bases from all branches of the armed forces. In some regions, such as San Diego, entire neighborhoods and local school boundary areas consist primarily of military families. Research indicates military families transfer duty stations, on average, once every three years, and children of military families often ...

Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, at a time when the Internet had a relatively minor impact on the daily lives of Americans. Today, the Internet plays a critical role in personal, civic, educational, commercial, and professional life. Public agencies increasingly rely on the Internet as an efficient and comprehensive method of communicating with and providing services to ...

A case out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, C.W. v. Capistrano Unified School District, was decided on March 2, 2015 and involved the review of a district court’s award of attorney’s fees to a California school district upon a finding that the claims therein were frivolous, unreasonable, and without foundation.

The IDEA provides prevailing plaintiff families the opportunity to seek attorney’s ...

I am often surprised that many educators are not familiar with the significance of their school district’s name.  School district names are often shortened due to convenience, or lack of awareness, even in formal communications.  While brevity for convenience is appropriate in some circumstances, we think it is also important to recognize that school district names are embedded with meaning.  For example:

The Universal Service Program for Schools and Libraries (known as the “E-rate program”) is the government’s largest educational technology program and is implemented by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The E-rate program helps eligible schools obtain affordable broadband (internet connection).

In July and December 2014, the FCC adopted E-rate Modernization Orders. Based on data ...

Newly introduced AB 219 seeks to amend Labor Code section 1720.3, relating to the definition of "public works."  Existing law defines "public works," for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages for public works projects, to include, among other things, the hauling of refuse from a public works site to an outside disposal location with respect to contracts involving any state ...

The use of social media by teachers and other school employees can have positive effects on the educational environment.  For example, social media can promote collaboration among teachers, and can provide an effective means of communication between teachers and parents.  However, educational employers have also found that access to social media during the workday can lead to decreased employee ...

Despite YouTube’s Popularity with School-Age Youth, Teachers Should Think Twice Before Asking Students to Upload Class Projects to YouTube

In a previous post, we discussed some of the legal issues associated with students uploading coursework on YouTube. This EdLawConnect entry continues that discussion.

Bullying-Related Concerns

Perhaps the most salient concern with students uploading their own ...