Law Update: Recent News and Lessons
Lex-IS Services
Legal Instruction and Support for School Leaders
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February 19, 2010
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e-Law Update
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It's been quite a year, so far, in school law. Much has happened just in the last two weeks. All of these events are poignant reminders that school leaders must know basic legal boundaries and apply some common sense and self-restraint. Otherwise, school districts spend much unnecessary time, effort, and money.
We will address many of these issues, plus related practice strategies and policies in our February 23 and March 2 Law Updates (see adjoining panel).
Below are brief summaries.
School Cyberlaw
- Philadelphia-area school district sued for taking remote pictures of students in their homes via built-in webcams on school-issued laptops. The district issued laptops to all students and claimed it activated the cameras only to recover lost or stolen laptops. Robbins v. Lower Merion School District (E.D.Pa 2/16/10). Articles: WRAL.com; Justia News
- Third Circuit Court of Appeals Issues two student free speech "MySpace" decisions on the same day, but with opposite legal outcomes. (Previously reported in a Lex-IS "Law Byte.")
- Federal district court upholds student's right to pursue free speech claim involving Facebook group to air student complaints about her teacher. Evans v. Bayer,
No. 08-61952 (S.D. Fla. 2/12/10). Article: OpenSalon
- E-Rate: Federal Communications Commission is seeking comments on proposed regulations to implement a new federal law requiring e-rate applicants to certify internet safety training for students.
75 Fed. Reg. 2,836 (PDF, Jan. 19, 2010).
- Court upholds conviction for wire fraud by teacher/E-Rate consultant under the federal E-Rate
program. Witnesses testified, among other things,
that she promised districts they could be reimbursed for her consulting fees entirely from e-Rate funds; this and other required information, however, was not disclosed in the e-rate application process. U.S. v. Green, No. 08-10149 (9th Cir. 1/22/10).
- The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that e-mail between school board members before an open board meeting violated the
state's open meetings law. Northern Dist. v. School
Comm. of Wayland, No. 10406
(MA, 12/31/09).
Personnel - School administrator's warning to janitor that things could "get
ugly" if the janitor did not stop talking at work about the administrator's upcoming
reelection, did not constitute free speech retaliation but, at most, was only a verbal reprimand.
Cook v. New Castle Area
School Dist., 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 25720 (3rd Cir. 11/23/09).
- Missouri Supreme Court recognizes "Public Policy" exception to dismissing an at-will employee. The employee sued his school district when he was allegedly fired for continually demanding that supervisors report suspicions of student abuse and neglect to social services officials. Keveney v. Missouri Military Academy, No. SC89925 (2/9/10).
- Michigan court rules that emails by teacher union leader are not "public
records" subject to public inspection under state law.
Howell Educ. Ass'n v. Howell Bd. of Educ., No. 288977 (1/26/10)
- School district's proposed
policy of operating audio-recording equipment in special education classroom to detect student abuse violated state Eavesdropping Act. The state appeals court ruled that classroom exchanges between teachers and students are "conversation" under the Act. Plock v. Freeport Sch. Dist, No. 2-08-0879 (12/8/09)
Student Safety/Negligence
- School system was not liable for "negligent security" measures when a student allegedly was shot with a BB gun by an unidentified intruder after a basketball practice. The school's reasonable precautions included an alarm system, alarm-sounding doors, and hallway cameras. In addition, the principal instructed coaches to close doors and permit only
basketball players into the building during practices.
Robinson v. Sacred Heart School,
2010 NY Slip Op. 829 (2/2/10).
Special Education
- The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions govern North Carolina) ruled that a school's limited procedural violations did not deny a free and appropriate
education (FAPE) to a student. The school failed to provide a written proposal to place the student at a
private day school and also failed to include a private school representative in the
IEP meeting. The Court also ruled that the school's proposed placement of the student at a private day school, rather than at a private boarding school, was sufficient.
K.J. ex rel. B.J. v.
Fairfax County School Board, 39 Fed. Appx. 921 (4th Cir. 1/8/10).
Charter Schools/Funding
- A North
Carolina charter school has threatened to sue the Lenoir County Schools for over $250,000 in unpaid
funds allegedly due the charter school. Article: NSBA "Legal Clips" (2/4/10).
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DISCLAIMER: This publication is for information purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice. When addressing actual legal issues, readers are encouraged to seek formal legal counsel, due to the fact that unique circumstances require carefully tailored legal analysis.
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