In May 2023, the Department of Education issued guidance on the current state of the law regarding constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public schools. Last updated in 2020, the guidance incorporates...more
6/28/2023
/ Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Access ,
ESEA ,
Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”) ,
First Amendment ,
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District ,
Prayer ,
Religious Expression ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
Teachers
On Monday June 27, the Supreme Court issued their ruling in the case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. (We previously reported on this case.) In a 6-3 decision penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the conservative majority...more
6/29/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Coaches ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Establishment Clause ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Free Speech ,
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District ,
Prayer ,
Public Employees ,
Religious Expression ,
School Districts ,
SCOTUS ,
The Lemon Test
In the wake of last week’s Appellate Court ruling, Governor Pritzker and the other state defendants have taken their appeal of the February 4, 2022 TRO regarding school COVID-19 mitigation measures to the Illinois Supreme...more
2/28/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Health and Safety ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Illinois ,
Leave to Appeal ,
Masks ,
Mootness ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
TRO ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On Friday, a court ruling in Springfield resulted in a temporary restraining order enjoining the Governor from enforcing certain COVID-19 mitigation measures including universal masking. Approximately 150 of Illinois’ 840...more
2/7/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Educational Institutions ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
TRO ,
Workplace Safety
A presidential election like no other in history, a global pandemic causing an unprecedented economic and emotional toll on our communities, and a remote learning environment where virtual communication reigns, whether in the...more
In this episode, we discuss the most top-of-mind issues and lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis....more
10/8/2020
/ Colleges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Remote Learning ,
School Districts ,
School Policies ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Universities
School leaders have always served a crucial role in communities, and we can’t imagine anyone managing the Coronavirus crisis without them. In this episode, our regular attorney panelists Shelli Anderson, Nicki Bazer, Jennifer...more
On August 27, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-0591, which added Section 24A-5.5 to the School Code. Section 24A-5.5 requires school districts to create an appeals process for teachers who receive...more
Governor JB Pritzker’s recent order that all K-12 schools in Illinois be closed between March 17 and March 30 has left school districts scrambling to prepare to close school tomorrow. On Saturday, March 14, ISBE updated its...more
3/17/2020
/ Act of God ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Educational Institutions ,
IEA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
ISBE ,
Public Health ,
School Closures ,
School Districts ,
Special Education ,
Students ,
Wage and Hour
School districts across the country are facing uncertainty when it comes to the legal rights of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming students. A lawsuit in Connecticut and a bill in Arizona, for instance, aim to...more
3/11/2020
/ Binary Options ,
Educational Institutions ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Gender Identity ,
ISBE ,
LGBTQ ,
School Districts ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
State and Local Government ,
Students ,
Transgender
This summer, Pearson notified a handful of Illinois school districts that its AIMSweb 1.0 Platform had experienced a data breach that impacted over 13,000 account holders nationally. ...more
9/18/2019
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
FERPA ,
Notification Requirements ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
PTAC ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
School Districts ,
Student Privacy
The Supreme Court recently declined to hear a case involving a public school district that fired its football coach for kneeling and praying on the football field after games. ...more
On September 24, 2015, the Illinois Supreme Court reaffirmed the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words” in holding that Community High School District No. 155’s bleacher construction project is subject to and must...more
9/29/2015
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Educational Institutions ,
IASB ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Industrial Stormwater Rule ,
Jurisdiction ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
School Districts ,
Zoning Laws
In working with school districts and charter schools, our firm has learned that many clients may have entered into agreements that lack key contract terms necessary to protect student data privacy. In other cases, we have...more