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Educational Institutions First Amendment School Districts

Shipman & Goodwin LLP

Supreme Court Addresses Religious Opt-Outs for LGBTQ-Inclusive Curricular Materials in Elementary Schools

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The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor has raised new considerations for districts faced with requests from parents to excuse students from instruction they believe is at odds with their religious beliefs. ...more

Miller Canfield

SCOTUS Rules Mandatory LGBTQ+ Curriculum Without Opt-Out Burdens Religious Freedom

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Can a public school require students to engage with materials that conflict with their parents’ religious beliefs without offering an opt-out? In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the U.S. Supreme Court enjoined the Montgomery County public...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

South Carolina House and Senate Introduce Legislation on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

State legislators have introduced bills in the South Carolina House of Representatives and South Carolina Senate to amend Title 1, Chapter 1 of the South Carolina Code by adding sections addressing diversity, equity, and...more

Rumberger | Kirk

Court Finds School Board Erred in Punishing Teacher for Political Activity on Social Media

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Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal (“Fifth DCA”) recently determined the Duval County School Board erred when it disciplined a teacher for politically-charged social media posts made in the run-up to the 2020...more

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

Ohio Senate Bill 206 Seeks to Expand School Discipline for Conduct on Social Media

Ohio Senate Bill 206, (SB 206) introduced in 2024, calls for students who post threatening content on social media to be punished with expulsion from school for up to 180 days. The bill defines the proposed prohibited conduct...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

2024 Title IX Regulations Deemed “Unlawful”

On Jan. 9, 2025, the Eastern District of Kentucky held in State of Tennessee, et al. v. Miguel Cardona, et al. that the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Final Rule implementing Title IX is “unlawful.” This court decision...more

Shipman & Goodwin LLP

2024 Title IX Regulations Are Likely Vacated

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Last year was a turbulent one for Title IX, and although we are just a few days into 2025, this turbulence has persisted into the new year. Yesterday, January 9, 2025, a federal district court in Kentucky issued a ruling that...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Confidentiality Provision of Educator Discipline Act Ruled Unconstitutional

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Pennsylvania’s Educator Discipline Act governs educator misconduct complaints filed with the Department of Education for investigation and, if warranted, discipline. 24 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 2070.9. Once a misconduct complaint is...more

Pullman & Comley - School Law

Are Your District's Social Media Accounts a Ticking Legal Time Bomb?

While district-controlled Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/“X” accounts can certainly be a great tool for engaging stakeholders – particularly Gen X and Millennial parents – it is important for board members and administrators...more

Fisher Phillips

Calm Waters Run Deep: 10 Action Items to Help Your School Face the Rising Tide of Political Discourse

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Yes, we are still talking about this. Despite facing what feels like a rising tide of political discourse in our communities for years, we continue to hear concerns about how schools can balance fostering academic freedom,...more

Franczek P.C.

Department of Ed Releases Post-Kennedy Guidance on Religious Expression in Public Schools

Franczek P.C. on

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

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

The Academic Advisor- Education Law Insights, Issue 2, February 2023

Win in Court doesn’t Assure More Pennsylvania School Funding - “Pennsylvania is the latest state where the public school funding system was found to be unconstitutional, but the experience in other states suggests there’s...more

Franczek P.C.

School District’s Discipline of Students for Off-Campus Speech Affirmed by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Franczek P.C. on

A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision held that school officials did not violate students’ First Amendment rights when disciplining them for off-campus social media posts that amounted to severe harassment...more

Miller Nash LLP

Off Campus, but Still Within Reach: Ninth Circuit Affirms a Public High School’s Right to Discipline Students for Online...

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As anticipated, the Ninth Circuit has waded back into the choppy waters of student online and off-campus speech following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2021 ruling in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L and found that a...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

High School Football Coach’s Mid-Field, Post-Game Prayer Ruled Protected Speech

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

​​​​​​​Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. __ (2022) (The United States Supreme Court concludes that a coach praying at mid-field following a high school football game was engaged in private religious expression...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

The Academic Advisor - Education Law Insights, Issue 2, 2022

Welcome to our second edition of The Academic Advisor - our e-newsletter focused on education law insights. We hope you enjoyed our first issue and found it helpful. Our aim is to support the work that you do by bringing...more

Polsinelli

Supreme Court Issues Opinion on Religious Expression for Public Employees

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The Supreme Court addressed the intersection of the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Speech clauses as they relate to a public employee’s personal religious expression when done in the public eye. In a 6-to-3...more

Franczek P.C.

Supreme Court rules in favor of football coach who prayed on field after games

Franczek P.C. on

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

Franczek P.C.

Supreme Court to decide case of football coach placed on leave for post-game prayers

Franczek P.C. on

On April 25, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which we previously reported on. As you may recall, the case involves a high school football coach, Joseph Kennedy, who was...more

Jaburg Wilk

The First Amendment Protects Only Some Arizona Students

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Many students are generally familiar with the First Amendment of the Constitution, but they often overlook that it only confers the right “to petition the Government for a redress of such grievances.” As a result, only...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

The Authority to Punish Lewd Speech is Limited Once a Student Exits School Grounds

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B. L. by and through Levy, 141 S. Ct. 2038 (2021). The United States Supreme Court holds that while schools can sometimes regulate student speech that takes place off-campus, the school district...more

Franczek P.C.

Gotta' Have Faith in Schools? Per Guidance, Sometimes the Answer Is Yes

Franczek P.C. on

The White House recently announced two initiatives aimed at addressing perceived discrimination in education against students and institutions based on religion. We address one of those initiatives—proposed regulations aimed...more

Franczek P.C.

Proposed Regulations Would Ease Access to Public Funds for Faith-Based Colleges

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The White House recently announced two initiatives aimed at addressing perceived discrimination in education against students and institutions based on religion. We address the first of those initiatives, relating to prayer...more

Fisher Phillips

#NeverAgain? How Schools Should Respond To Student Protests

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After the February 14 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students began to organize like rarely before to protest gun violence in schools. Protests such as school walk-outs and “die-ins”...more

Hogan Lovells

Student activism after Parkland—Some First Amendment considerations for school district leaders

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After the tragic February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students across the country have taken to the streets. Students have met with lawmakers, engaged in protests, and staged...more

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