Last week, the Supreme Court decided Safford Unified School District #1 et. al. v. Redding, the “strip-search” case. The Supreme Court followed the precedent it created in New Jersey v. T.L.O., which set forth the reasonable suspicion standard for school searches, ultimately holding that the strip-search of the student in this case was unreasonable and violated the Fourth Amendment. Under T.L.O.’s reasonable suspicion […]
A free curriculum is available from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to address cyberbullying issues at NSBA. NSBA partnered with a group called CyberSmart to produce this curriculum (reported to be “research-based” for those concerned about those things), and it is described on the NSBA website as addressing all of the major issues: In developing these lessons, […]
Parents sue Ohio school over bullied son’s suicide Associated Press; Fri Apr 3, 11:48 am ET MENTOR, Ohio – An Ohio couple has filed a lawsuit saying school officials failed to stop bullying that they claim led to their 17-year-old son’s suicide. The suit was filed in federal court last week, almost two years to the day when Eric […]
On March 27, 2009, the United States Department of Education issued a revised version of its document entitled Frequently Asked Questions About Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities, updating it to include new information about the implications of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments (ADAA) effective January 1, 2009. In addition to the […]
A long-awaited memorandum from the State Department of Education describes in bullet-points the Department’s interpretation of the recent changes to the anti-bullying legislation found in Title 10 of the Connecticut General Statutes, and also adds a further gloss in the form of “best practices” for school districts to follow to improve school climate. Among the […]
Final revisions to the FERPA regulations were published December 9, 2008 in the Federal Register. Key changes include the following: “Attendance” at a school for purposes of protection under FERPA includes attendance in person or by correspondence or electronic means for purposes of students not able to be physically present in the classroom; A definition of […]
Since Congress has explicitly rejected the Supreme Court’s decisions in Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc. and Toyota Motor Manufacturer v. Williams, some school districts may need to remove references to these cases from training materials and guidance for staff on defining “substantial limitation” and “major life activities”. In addition, a new list of major life activities explicitly […]
The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Judge Eginton, has ruled in the case of E.K. v. Stamford Board of Education, 3:07cv00800 (WWE) that the due process rights of a student expelled for leaving threatening racist messages on the voice mail of a female student (among other offenses) were not violated when the […]
The Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) issued a letter to a parent seeking access to records that clarifies the scope and requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), noting that the school is not generally required by FERPA to provide a parent with access to school calendars or general notices such as announcements […]
With the close of the 2008 legislative session, HB 5826 An Act Concerning School Learning Environment has passed. The bill postpones from July 1, 2008 to July 1, 2009 the effective implementation date for PA 07-66 which generally prohibits out of school suspensions and extends from five to ten days, the maximum length of in-school […]
