Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature recently reached an agreement on a “bell-to-bell” smartphone ban in schools. This new legislation will take effect for the 2025-2026 school year and will apply to all schools...more
On Oct. 25, 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law Senate Bill S05261/Assembly Bill A05010, amending the definition of child abuse under Article 23-B, § 1125(1). The definition of child abuse now includes corporal punishment...more
On Oct. 10, 2023, the New York State Education Department’s Office of Counsel issued Formal Opinion No. 243 (the Opinion), stating that alternative instruction for suspended students must equal the number of hours recently...more
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the ARP Act) – a $1.9 trillion economic relief package. The ARP Act includes $2.75 billion specifically earmarked for private schools....more
On Dec. 23, 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed bill A.5240A/S.6479 into law requiring school districts, BOCES, charter schools and nonpublic schools to designate all single-occupancy restrooms as gender neutral. The new law...more
As we become aware of an increasing number of schools located in areas designated as “Yellow Zones” pursuant to the New York State Cluster Action Initiative, if your school is not currently in a “Yellow Zone,” it may be...more
On March 30, 2020, the New York State Education Department extended the deadline for all parental requests pursuant to Section 3635 of the Education Law for transportation to non-public and charter schools during the...more
On March 30, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.13 addressed the following issues affecting public school districts throughout the State: (1) the postponement of upcoming school board elections; (2) whether...more
At the July 2019 Board of Regents meeting, there were several topics that we think will be useful for school districts to review prior to the start of the 2019-2020 school year....more
On February 25, 2019, Governor Cuomo signed the “Red Flag” bill into law. The purpose of this law, also known as the “extreme risk protection order” law, is to prevent individuals from accessing firearms, rifles and shotguns...more
On February 14, 2019, Governor Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act into law. This legislation overhauls existing New York law concerning the time in which to bring claims for alleged childhood sexual abuse. It is anticipated...more
On March 22, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision regarding a matter of significant concern to school districts. In the case of Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1, the Supreme Court held...more
On March 6, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ judgment in the case of Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old transgender student from Virginia who sought to use the bathroom that corresponds with...more
On February 22, the Trump administration issued a two-page letter to schools withdrawing guidance that had previously been issued by the Obama administration regarding transgender students’ use of rest rooms and locker...more
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could affect the education of millions of students with disabilities, and the public schools that provide services to these students. In the case of...more