We have extensive experience in every conceivable aspect of personnel and employment law in which a public school system may become involved, including: in-service training; documentation; use of the state performance appraisal systems; EEO matters; grievances; tenure law; career development; employee discipline and sanctions; contract development; workers' compensation; unemployment law; employment benefits; cafeteria benefits plans; personnel files and privacy statutes; drug-free workplace; fingerprinting; records; interaction with OCR (Office for Civil Rights); ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act); § 504; administrator contracts; Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); employment at-will; sexual harassment; investigations; employee assistance programs; veterans’ rights (USERRA); etc. We have extensive contacts with and have represented clients before the EEOC, OCR, N.C. Department of Public Instruction, State Board of Education, Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, N.C. Industrial Commission, and N.C. Employment Security Commission.
D. Contracts
We have extensive experience in virtually all types of contracts involving public school systems, including: employment contracts, superintendent and administrator contracts, architect and construction contracts, personnel contracts, joint use agreements, purchase agreements, ITFS (Instructional Television Fixed Service) licenses and agreements, publication and royalty agreements, film agreements, etc.
E. Finance and Accounting
We have extensive experience in all matters relating to the School Budget and Fiscal Control Act, federal and state pass-through or matching funding programs (e.g. - Title I, vocational funds, exceptional children's funds) and other aspects relating to finance and accounting. We have represented many school boards in successful litigation with boards of county commissioners over local current expense and capital outlay funds and use of the 1/2 cent sales taxes. We have also represented boards in negotiations with state and federal officials during and following audits, involving audit exceptions, orders for reimbursement, embezzlement, records, etc. We have worked closely with school finance officers in a wide variety of matters dealing with preventive practices, internal audits, checks and balances, and individual school accounts. We are familiar with all school purchasing requirements, bidding, the uniform budget format, and the required state reporting systems. We have experience in financing public school building projects through certificates of participation (COPS) and public school bond issues, including such matters as the procedure and resolutions of a Board of Education to seek bond approval for school projects and the procedure and resolutions of a Board of Education to transfer bond monies from one project to another.
F. Special Education
All members of the firm are available to provide counseling and advice relating to special education matters, policies involving the rights of special education students, special education grievances, the rights of students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Members of the firm have experience representing school systems before the Office of Administrative Hearings and the court system on such matters.
G. Litigation
The firm has experience in all aspects of litigation before every level of court, both state and federal. (In 2006 the firm obtained a jury verdict in N.C. for over $10 million in a school budget case.) Litigation areas include: employment litigation, Title VII (EEOC), discrimination, sexual harassment, First Amendment cases (speech, religion), teacher nonrenewals and dismissals, student suspensions, student injuries, disabled students, school construction, transferring bond funds, school budgets, school mergers, school closings, assaults, undercover drug operations, searches and seizures, weapons on campus, bond forfeitures, use of parking fines for public schools, environmental penalties, distribution of tax funds, Fourteenth Amendment and § 1983 (civil rights) cases, desegregation and unitary status cases, workers' compensation, vehicular injuries, Voting Rights Act, etc.
H. Workshops and In-Service Training
The following is a partial list of workshops and in-service training that have been presented by members of the firm in recent years:
· Reporting Requirements and Confidentiality
· Balancing Student Safety and Students’ Rights
· Writing, Implementing and Closing Out Action Plans
· Documentation
· Sexual Harassment and Reporting Requirements
· Student Discipline, Due Process and Notification Requirements
· Selected Personnel Laws, Personnel Files and Documentation
· Legal Issues for Board members: Superintendent’s Contracts, Company Police Force, Public Address to the Board
· Legal Issues for Board Members
· Action Plans, Renewals, and Final Employment Decisions
· Major Changes to ESEA in the No Child Left Behind Act
· Athletics Workshop: Fair Labor Standards Act; High School Athletic Rules; Relevant Board Policies; Drug Testing of Student Athletes; Booster Clubs and School Athletes; Participation and Discipline of Student Athletes; Tort Liability for Athletic and Sports Related Injuries;
· Principles for Effective Action Plans
· Quality Control Measures in Teacher and Student Performance
· Tort Liability for Athletic and Sports Related Injuries
· Documentation/Teacher Dismissal
· Ethics
· Investigations in School Settings
· Schools & Religion
· Searches and Seizures
· Testing Ethics
· Student Enrollment and Custody
· Disability Law in Elementary and Secondary Education
· Action Plan Development
· Employing Retired Personnel
· Student Retention
· Employing Coaches
· Board Roles and Responsibilities, Confidentiality, Boardsmanship
· Code of Ethics, Confidentiality, Criminal History checks, and Student Records (FERPA)
· Random Drug Testing for Students in Extracurricular Activities
· Basic Training: Personnel Evaluation, Documentation and Action Plans
· Non-renewal; Action Plans; Classified Employees
· Employee Misconduct
· Negligent Hiring, Retention and Supervision
· Safe Schools Act
· High Stakes Testing
· Linking Teacher Evaluation to Student Achievement
· Administrator Contracts
· IEP’s
· Reauthorization of the IDEA
· FLSA – New Rules
· Student Records/FERPA
· Action Plans
· Reauthorization of the IDEA; NCLB and the IDEA; and IDEA Reauthorized-is accountability being left behind?
· Open Meetings, Public Records and Confidential Matters
· Legislative Update
· Administrator Tenure and Contracts
· Legal and Ethical Issues in School Counseling
· Accountability and Teacher/Student Performance
· Peer Sexual Harassment
· ADA – The Americans with Disabilities Act
· Employee Training on Employee Sexual Harassment
· Zero Tolerance
· Hate Speech; Hate Crimes
· First Amendment Issues in Public Schools
· Dismissal Strategies
· Student to Student Sexual Harassment
· Gateways
· Closing the Achievement Gap
· Public Records Law
· Developments in Open Meetings Law
· Closed Session Minutes
· Volunteers-Insurance and Other Issues
· Preparing to Handle the News Media During a Crisis
· OCR Complaints
· Admission of Non-Domiciled Students
· Appointment of Custodian for Minor
· Student Attendance Issues
· Ten Commandments and Other Religious Issues in Schools
· School Violence and Safety
· Case Law Update
· Essential Management Skills for School Administrators
· Boards and Administrators
· Contracts, Employment Discrimination
· Liability Issues
· Regulating Offensive Student Speech in Public Schools
· Bullying
· School Health Issues
· IDEA, including recent reauthorization
· Litigation pitfalls in special education
· The Deborah Greenblatt Act: Seclusion & Restraint
I. Other duties as requested