November 15-16, 2013: Berchem Moses lawyers attended the 2013 conference of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, November 15-16 in Mystic. The theme of the CABE/CAPSS conference was “Keeping Focus on Student Growth in a Time of Rapid Change.” The firm sponsored the conference’s Friday dinner speaker, poet Azure […]
Mario F. Coppola, partner in the Westport office, has been named corporation counsel by newly elected Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling. The appointment is for a two-year term. Mario regularly practices in the area of municipal law. He has provided legal representation and services to the towns of Westport, Trumbull, New Canaan, Madison and Easton. He […]
Earlier this year, FERPA was amended to grant child welfare agency representatives, agency caseworkers, or a tribal organization access to the education records of children within their care and protection. The new exemption was created in order to prevent delays and complications in the education of children in foster care. Prior to the amendment, child […]
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (“OSERS”) published a new “Dear Colleague” letter in August which discusses best practices for handling of bullying cases involving a student with a disability. The letter describes that the bullying of a student with a disability that results in the student not receiving meaningful educational benefit constitutes a […]
Although rarely done, in the past few years, several Connecticut public school districts have been featured in the news for seeking criminal remedies against parents for theft of educational services. Parents who allegedly enrolled and sent their child to a school located in a town or city other than the one where the child actually resided […]
In a case of first impression, the State Board of Labor Relations has ruled that owner/operator bus drivers in Newtown are independent contractors and not employees of the School Board. Newtown Board of Education SBLR Dec. No. 4668 (2013). In an effort to thwart the school district’s efforts to end an 80 year old system of local […]
While the other aspects of Connecticut’s new gun control law have received more notoriety, the new law included a number of provisions intended to improve school safety and security including the following: Requires each school to have a safety committee; Requires each school to conduct a risk vulnerability assessment; Require each school to have a […]
In what is one of, if not the first decision of its type in Connecticut, an independent hearing officer has ruled that the Groton Board of Education had grounds to terminate Paul Kadri its Superintendent of Schools. As in most districts, Kadri was under contract which provided for grounds for termination similar to those […]
While significant inroads have been made in implementing defined contribution plans for new hires in Connecticut municipal negotiations, police and fire unions have continued to resist such changes, citing, among other things, the greater likelihood a cop or firefighter may become disabled on the job than other municipal workers. Nonetheless, while still in the minority, […]
Employers of persons who operate a commercial motor vehicle that requires a commercial driver’s license (“CDL”) should know that they are subject to the United States Department of Transportation (“DOT”), Federal Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) regulations. The regulations, commonly known as “Part 40,” require commercial motor vehicle operators to be tested for drugs […]
