Welcome to the July 2010 issue of our monthly newsletter dedicated to keeping you current on Education Law and related issues. |
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FEATURED CLIENT TESTIMONIAL:
"Dr. Dragan's report was prompt and sharp. His testimony was straightforward and clear. We had an excellent experience with Dr. Dragan."
Arthur l. Raynes, Esq.
Wiley, Malehorn and Sirota
Morristown, New Jersey |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Dragan recomends a book by another collegue dealing with bullying titled No Kidding About Bullying.
The author, Naomi Drew, is recognized around the world for her work in conflict resolution and bullying. See Naomi's Blog for more information.
Dr. Dragan is workin full speed on his book The Bully Action Guide: How to Get Your School to Listen When Your Child Is Bullied. The book is expected to reach shelves in the parenting section in the Spring of 2011. |
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| Featured Articles | |
Five Tips for Parents
When Your Child Is Being Bullied
by Edward F. Dragan |
All 15-year-old Phoebe Prince wanted was to be liked. But after moving from Ireland to Massachusetts, it wasn't long before Phoebe endured bullying from the "mean girls" at school. They stalked Phoebe, called her an "Irish whore," and intimidated her relentlessly. In January, the mean girls followed Phoebe home and threw a Monster energy drink can at her. Phoebe kept walking - past the harassment, past the can, past the white picket fence, into her house. Then she walked into a closet and hanged herself.
When her mother enrolled Phoebe the previous fall, she told the principal her daughter had been bullied in Ireland. The principal assured her he would watch out for Phoebe. But Phoebe's mother didn't document that discussion with a follow-up letter. She didn't ask for a copy of the school's anti-harassment policy. She didn't ask for a plan of intervention if Phoebe was bullied.
She didn't fail to do these things because she was indifferent. She didn't do these things because she didn't know she had the ability to intervene and to foment decisive action.
Dr. Dragan's article published in American School, December 2009
FOR OTHER EDUCATION RELATED ARTICLES VISIT OUR RE-DESIGNED WEBSITE AND BLOG
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I hope that our newsletter has provided you with valuable information. If there is anything else that you would like us to include please do not hesitate to give us your feedback.
As a litigation consultant and education administration expert, I am committed to providing individualized service to our clients while dealing with large and complex consultations quickly and professionally. These include case review and analysis, expert testimony, school reviews in custody matters, presentations and working with parents or schools to ensure children receive an appropriate education.
I take pride in the fact that my firm responds to our clients' needs personally and promptly. We continue to strive to combine the resources of a large firm with the personal consultant-client rapport of a small practice.
Sincerely,
Edward F. Dragan, Ed.D.
Education Management Consulting, LLC |
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Learn more about us and how our education and school liability expertise can help resolve your education case.
phone: 609.397.8989 |
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| T.W. ex rel. Wilson v. School Bd. of Seminole County, Fla., (C.A.11 (Fla.)) |
July 1, 2010: Student Discipline - Restraining of student after he refused to go to cool down room was capable of being construed as attempt to restore order. A teacher's use of force against a student with pervasive developmental disorder, in restraining the student only after he had refused to go to a cool down room, called the teacher names, and threatened to have her arrested, was capable of being construed as an attempt to restore order, maintain discipline, or protect the student from self-injurious behavior, and thus was not arbitrary, egregious, and conscience-shocking as required to violate the student's substantive due process civil rights. Although the teacher frequently teased the student and agitated him until he became angry, the teacher did not provoke the student to disrupt the class during that incident. |
| K.L.A. v. Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, (C.A.2 (Vt.)) |
June 29, 2010: Disabled Students - Vermont school district did not violate IDEA through failed attempt to formulate mutually agreeable IEP. A Vermont school district did not violate the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) through its failed attempt to formulate an individualized education program (IEP) that was also agreeable to the parents of a student who suffered from pervasive development disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Meetings to formulate an IEP were not procedurally defective on account of the absence of the student's regular education teacher from some of them. The parents were afforded the opportunity to weigh in on the student's educational placement. Finally, the proffered IEP did not fail to provide the least restrictive environment (LRE) for instruction. |
| Cuff ex rel. B.C. v. Valley Cent. School Dist., (S.D.N.Y.) |
June 30, 2010: Student Discipline - Elementary school student's suspension for writing violent message on in-class assignment did not violate First Amendment. The suspension of a ten-year-old student for writing "blow up the school with all the teachers in it" on in-class assignment did not violate his First Amendment right to free expression. The student had a substantial disciplinary history, all of it tied to suggestions of violent tendencies, which was known to the elementary school principal as well as to the school district generally. Given what he wrote on his drawing, which on its face threatened violence and the destruction of property, coupled with the school administrators' general knowledge of his prior disciplinary history and similar past writings, no reasonable factfinder could find a prediction of a likelihood of substantial disruption was unreasonable. The student's age and the fact the threat was made in direct response to a school assignment were immaterial, as was his capacity to carry out the threat. |
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