Legal Insights

Discipline of students with disabilities has to be different if the Section 504 prohibitions on disability discrimination are to have any value.  If a student’s impairment causes misbehavior, disciplining him…

House Bill 1816, now known as Act 168, was signed by the Governor on October 22, 2014 and takes effect in 60 days on December 22, 2014.  The law, in…

House Bill 435, now known as Act 153, was signed by the Governor on October 22, 2014 and is effective December 31, 2014. In addition to requirements for unpaid school…

On Nov. 10, 2014, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board v. Office of Open Records, _ A 3d _ (Pa 2014). This Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) case involved…

The January 27, 2014 amendments to the Act removed some of the restrictions for school-based booster clubs and organizations to raise funds through raffles.  A “Raffle Auction” is defined as…

In 2012 an omnibus education bill, known as Act 82, was enacted.  That law requires, in part, that new employment contracts for superintendents and assistant superintendents include objective performance standards…

Amendments to Child Protective Services Law 23 P.S. §§ 6311, 6313 and 6319 In addition to the recent legislative changes to The Educator Discipline Act, there have been changes to…

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has called into question the ability of schools to remove a student from its enrollment roster (dis-enroll) if the student…

On many occasions, an employer’s investigation of workplace misconduct relies heavily upon observations and testimony of co-employees.  During the investigation, an employer will request that the co-employees submit witness statements. …

Revisions to the Professional Educator Discipline Act (Act) became effective February 16, 2014. The Act increases an educator’s responsibility to report and expands the instances in which a report to…

For many years, there was little court guidance on the use of Executive Sessions under the Sunshine Act.  However, in recent years, two (2) court decisions now provide guidance to…

In K.A. v. Fulton County School District the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the IDEA does not require a school district to request a due process…

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court’s 2014 student transportation decision in Watts v. Manheim is likely to raise school district transportation costs in a climate where school districts are trying to save…

Maiello Brungo & Maiello is pleased to announce that the Keystone Oaks School District has appointed the law firm as solicitor for the district. In that role, the firm will…

In the Spring 2012 edition of Education News, we reported the United States District Court dismissal of the Morrow vs. BlackhawkSchool District case involving a student’s claim that the District…