Thanks to a recent legislative change, the campaign season for those wishing to run for the school board now begins about a month earlier. Historically, the window set forth in the Election Code for filing nominating...more
Schools throughout the country are preparing to implement the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights’ (“OCR”) long-awaited final 2024 Title IX regulations. These new regulations, which replace the 2020...more
8/2/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Colleges ,
Department of Education ,
Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
Illinois ,
LGBTQ ,
New Regulations ,
OCR ,
School Districts ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title IX ,
Universities
As we previously reported, under new School Code amendments made by Faith’s Law aimed to address sexual abuse prevention and response in schools, school districts, charter and non-public schools are required to implement new...more
A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision held that school officials did not violate students’ First Amendment rights when disciplining them for off-campus social media posts that amounted to severe harassment...more
1/18/2023
/ Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Hate Speech ,
Mahanoy Area School District v B.L. ,
School Districts ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Student Speech ,
Students ,
Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School Dist.
Recently, the Seventh Circuit—the circuit court governing Illinois—upheld a lower court’s judgment in favor of a school district defending against two reverse race discrimination claims brought by a longtime District...more
On April 25, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which we previously reported on. As you may recall, the case involves a high school football coach, Joseph Kennedy, who was...more
6/9/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Coaches ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Establishment Clause ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Free Speech ,
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District ,
Oral Argument ,
Prayer ,
Public Employees ,
Religious Expression ,
School Districts ,
SCOTUS ,
The Lemon Test
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that school districts may only be liable for employee sexual misconduct when a school official has actual notice of the conduct. In C.S. v. Madison Metropolitan School District, the...more
5/27/2022
/ Child Abuse ,
Child Protection Laws ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Grooming Policies ,
Illinois ,
Minor Children ,
School Districts ,
Sexual Abuse ,
Sexual Conduct ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Title IX ,
Vulnerable Victims
School district practices on referrals to local law enforcement for student misconduct in schools are facing intense scrutiny in the wake of the ProPublica investigation reported these past weeks in the Chicago Tribune. ...more
In March, the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington ruled against a school district in favor of a student with intellectual disabilities, who was awarded $500,000 by a jury based on the district’s failure...more
4/26/2022
/ Disabled Children ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Negligence ,
School Districts ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Special Education ,
Students ,
Title IX
Schools and districts throughout the State – and country – are beginning this school week on the heels of a flurry of announcements made last Friday by the CDC, the Illinois Supreme Court, Governor Pritzker and ISBE,...more
2/28/2022
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Illinois ,
Infectious Diseases ,
ISBE ,
Masks ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
TRO ,
Workplace Safety
Governor Pritzker recently signed Public Act 102-0676 (HB 1975) into law, which addresses sexual abuse prevention in schools. The new law is intended to address staff-student boundaries and appropriate professional conduct,...more
1/26/2022
/ Child Abuse ,
Child Protection Laws ,
Code of Conduct ,
Crime Victims ,
Educational Institutions ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Minor Children ,
New Regulations ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Acts ,
School Districts ,
Sexual Abuse ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Conduct ,
Vulnerable Victims
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker released an official statement this week vetoing HB 2778 and announcing in its place a joint initiative reflecting a compromise with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education...more
1/26/2022
/ Colleges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
School Districts ,
Teachers ,
Universities ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
On August 27, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-0591, which added Section 24A-5.5 to the School Code. Section 24A-5.5 requires school districts to create an appeals process for teachers who receive...more
We had great participation in our IAASE session last week on this topic, with the audience voting electronically to weigh in on their anticipated outcomes of cases. If you missed it, here are our main takeaways....more
10/23/2019
/ Bullying ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Due Process ,
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) ,
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) ,
Internal Communications ,
Internal Investigations ,
Liability ,
OCR ,
Required Documentation ,
Risk Mitigation ,
School Districts ,
Section 504 ,
Special Education ,
Students ,
Vulnerable Victims
Governor Pritzker recently signed into law Public Act 101-0455 amending the School Safety Drill Act (105 ILCS 128/1) to require threat assessment procedures and the creation of threat assessment teams in school districts...more
9/18/2019
/ Adverse Events ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
FERPA ,
FOIA ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Information Sharing ,
New Legislation ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Acts ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
School Districts ,
State and Local Government ,
Threat Management ,
Vulnerability Assessments
On August 27, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-0591 (formerly Senate Bill 1213), creating an appeals process for teachers who receive unsatisfactory summative ratings. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school...more
The Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) recently issued guidance addressing Homeless Dispute Resolution Procedures. This newly released document is intended to “bring clarity, fairness and consistency” to the dispute...more
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over Illinois, recently rejected an Indiana student’s claims against two school districts for allegedly improperly responding to...more
On August 24, 2015, Governor Rauner signed into law Public Act 99-456. The Act requires school districts and charter schools to overhaul their discipline policies and is aimed at reducing the incidence of out-of-school...more
8/31/2015
/ Board of Education ,
Charter Schools ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Educational Institutions ,
Expulsion ,
School Districts ,
School Suspension ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
Two recent decisions from our neighbors in Indiana and Michigan provide guidance on what courts may expect from school districts responding to allegations of sexual assault. Pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of...more
Last week, the Illinois Appellate Court’s Second District held that a teacher subject to dismissal based on a reduction in force (RIF) did not have recall rights because she was in RIF Grouping 2, and that the school district...more
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recently published its proposed regulations containing the State Performance Evaluation Model required under the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA). PERA specifically...more
On January 25, 2013, the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education (OCR) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” instructing school districts on their responsibilities to serve students with disabilities in...more