School districts in Connecticut looking for guidance on how to handle discipline of students engaging in provocative speech on-line at home have been watching with interest the outcome of two cases in the Third Circuit that seemed to reach conflicting results. Both cases were re-heard by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, […]
If you haven’t already, be sure to get a copy of Substitute Bill 1138, Public Act 11-232, effective July 1, 2011, which makes sweeping changes to the State’s anti-bullying statute applicable to public school districts. The new law adds specific prohibitions against cyber-bullying, redefines “bullying” for purposes of the statute, and requires school districts to […]
The next chapter in the continuing saga of Doninger v. Niehoff, et al. was decided and issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on April 25, 2011. You may recall reading about this case in 2008, when the Second Circuit upheld the decision of District Court Judge Mark Kravtiz denying the plaintiff […]
This fall, Connecticut revised the regulations implementing those provisions of Section 10-212a of the General Statutes concerning administration of medications in school by school personnel. The revised regulations require school districts to develop and implement policies and procedures dictating which school personnel authorized by the statutes will have actual authority in the district to administer […]
In an opinion by the Honorable Superior Court Judge Henry S. Cohn, the Connecticut Superior Court dismissed the appeal of a teacher whose name was placed on the child abuse and neglect registry after a Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) hearing officer determined, pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-101g (b), that the teacher […]
In a decision issued in September 2008, a Connecticut Superior Court judge ruled in the case of Dornfried v. Berlin Board of Education, that there is no private right of action under Connecticut’s anti-bullying statute. In Dornfried, a high school student and his parents sued the principal, athletic director, and head football coach, claiming that the […]
