EdLawConnect Blog

Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear two sexual harassment cases of interest to school districts nationwide: (1) a case involving allegations of sexual harassment brought by a student against a teacher, and (2) a case involving allegations of sexual harassment brought by a teacher regarding the harassing conduct of a student.

In Jane Doe v. Willits Unified School District et al., an ...

Since the advent of the cellular phone camera, nearly every high school student is equipped to surreptitiously videotape his/her teacher.  While this practice is statutorily-prohibited, what happens when a student breaks the rule and the cellular phone video depicts an image that would subject the teacher to discipline?

To be clear, the Education Code expressly prohibits surreptitiously videotaping a ...

California, along with 46 other states and the District of Columbia, are gearing-up to implement the common core standards for Math and English Language Arts in 2014. The intent of developing a national common core standard was to eliminate gaps in academic expectations throughout the United States and to more closely align the United States academic standards with international standards. The common core ...

Frequently, when a student is involved in the California juvenile dependency or delinquency courts the student’s LEA is unaware of the nature of the student’s involvement and not privy to information that is pertinent to the student’s educational success.  LEA’s are often unaware that they have the right to petition a juvenile court to release copies of juvenile court records for a student within ...

Over the years two questions have come up frequently regarding prior written notices to parents/legal guardians:

1.  When is a LEA required to provide prior written notice (“PWN”)?

2.  What constitutes a legally sufficient PWN?

Fortunately for LEAs, the IDEA and case law address both of these questions with some detail.

When Notice is Required

Under the IDEA a parent must be provided with prior written

PLEASANTON, Calif. —Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo (AALRR) is pleased to welcome partner Elizabeth J. Rho-Ng to its Pleasanton office, where she will work in the firm’s Education Practice.

With studies showing that concussion injuries put athletes at immediate risk for traumatic brain injuries and increased long-term cumulative risks for early onset dementia, clinical depression, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, school districts are looking to protect their student-athletes from physical harm and themselves from exposure to legal liability for that harm.  Recent ...

A number of bills pending in the California Legislature reflect action by student advocates to reform approaches to student discipline that many believe lack common sense and fairness.

This push for “educational equity” and a more “thoughtful response to student misconduct” stems from studies indicating that exclusionary discipline is largely ineffective at increasing school safety or ...

On March 1, 2012, outrage erupted and national headlines were created when James Hooker, a 41 year old teacher at a high school in Modesto, California, announced that he quit his job, left his wife and family, and moved in with an 18 year old student, Jordan Powers. Both student and teacher have maintained that, while they met when the student was 14, their relationship did not become physical until she turned 18 ...

The old adage, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" may not be so reassuring in a day and age when anyone can post an insult about someone on a public blog or social media site for a virtual universe of internet users to see. This is especially so if a student or students have posted insults about an administrator or a teacher on a public website that are viewed by other members of school staff, students, parents, and the community.