Upcoming Seminar at NJSBA Spring School Law Forum
On Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. and Lauren E. Tedesco, Esq. will be presenting at the New Jersey School Boards Association’s Spring School Law Forum. They will be speaking about uncommon accommodations and service animals for students in school. The seminar will be held in Monroe, New Jersey. For additional information and registration, please click here.
Upcoming Seminar at NJASA/NJAPSA Spring Leadership Annual Conference
On Wednesday, May 18, 2017, Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. and Cameron R. Morgan, Esq. will be presenting at the the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and Association of Pupil Services Administrators’ 35th Annual Spring Leadership Conference. They will be speaking about legal issues pertaining to student residency and homelessness. The seminar will be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For additional information and registration, please click here.
Appellate Division Affirms Tuition Reimbursement Issue Not Subject to Arbitration
On March 2, 2017, the New Jersey Appellate Division issued an unpublished decision in Hillsborough Township Board of Education v. Hillsborough Township Education Association in which it affirmed the Public Employment Relations Commission’s (“PERC”) determination that an issue involving tuition reimbursement was preempted by statute and therefore not arbitrable. This case arose from employees whose requests for tuition reimbursement were denied because the courses were not related to the employees’ current or future job responsibilities pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:6-8.5. In 2013, four individuals employed by the Hillsborough Township Board of Education (“Board”) sought tuition reimbursement from the Board for various […]
Upcoming Seminar at Lehigh University’s 45th Special Education Law Conference
On Friday, May 12, 2017, Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. and Cameron R. Morgan, Esq. will be presenting at Lehigh University’s 45th Special Education Law Conference. Their presentations are entitled “Mental Health, Including Therapeutic Placements: Balancing the Law and Family Support” and “Special Education Law 101: The Do’s and Don’ts of Special Education Litigation.” The seminar will be held in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. For additional information and registration, please click here.
Appellate Division Clarifies Who May Issue Rice Notice to Superintendent
In 2013, the Appellate Division ruled that Daniel Woska, a former member of the Brick Township Board of Education (“Board”), exceeded the scope of his authority and violated the New Jersey School Ethics Act (“Act”) when he directed the Business Administrator to issue a Rice notice to the Superintendent. As a result of that Rice notice, the Board discussed the Superintendent’s employment and then terminated him. In the 2013 decision, the Appellate Division remanded the case to the School Ethics Commission (“SEC”) to determine who is authorized to issue a Rice notice for the purposes of reviewing the Superintendent’s employment. […]
Upcoming Seminar: “Student Records: Legal Requirements You Need to Know”
On May 2 and May 5, 2017, Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. and Cameron R. Morgan, Esq. will be presenting at the National Business Institute’s seminar entitled “Student Records: Legal Requirements You Need to Know.” They will be speaking about student surveys and physical security of student records. The seminar will be held in Princeton and Atlantic City. For additional information and registration, please click here.
What You Need to Know About Service Animals in Schools – Part 2
By: Lauren E. Tedesco, Esq. Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. In Part 1 of this series, we discussed what qualifies as a service animal and what types of inquiries a school district is permitted to make. Today, we will discuss the parameters by which a school district may exclude a service animal from school, the responsibility of caring and supervising the animal, allergy and/or fear considerations, and liability insurance. Pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 35.136 (b), once a school district permits the use of a service animal by a student with a disability, the service animal can only be removed from […]
U.S. Supreme Court Decides Substantive Standard for FAPE to Special Education Students
By: Cameron R. Morgan, Esq. Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. For many months now, those involved in the world of special education have been patiently awaiting the issuance of one of the most important legal decisions in special education in the past 35 years, since the seminal Rowley decision was handed down in 1982. On March 22, 2017, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, 580 U.S. ___ (2017), in which it confronted the difficult issue of the appropriate substantive standard for determining whether special education students have been provided with […]
What You Need to Know About Service Animals in Schools – Part 1
By: Lauren E. Tedesco, Esq. Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. More often than not, school administrators face questions relating to requests for service animals to accompany students in school. What is a service animal? Who is allowed to bring a service animal to school? What restrictions may a school impose on the use of a service animal? In this two part series, we will explore these and other issues surrounding the use of service animals in schools. New Jersey school districts must permit access to service animals that accompany students with disabilities. N.J.S.A. 18A:46-13.2 and 13.3 and the Americans with Disabilities […]
U.S. DOE and DOJ Rescind Guidance Documents Regarding Transgender Students
On February 22, 2017, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice (“Departments”) released a Dear Colleague Letter, which rescinds the May 2016 federal guidance documents regarding the rights of transgender students. The May 2016 guidance documents offered clarification that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) prohibits discrimination based on a student’s transgender status and/or gender identity. These previously issued guidance documents explained that school districts cannot require transgender students to use restrooms or locker rooms inconsistent with their gender identity or require them to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so. The recent February 2017 Dear Colleague […]
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