We are nearly at the one-month mark with the 2024 Title IX Regulations in effect. Since the August 1 implementation date, school administrators have been busy getting trained, preparing for the school year ahead, and sorting...more
8/30/2024
/ Educational Institutions ,
Grievance Process ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Training Requirements
As a quick update for our education clients, the Biden administration purportedly plans to delay the release date of the Title IX final rule on transgender athletes until after the presidential election. While the Department...more
4/4/2024
/ Educational Institutions ,
Final Rules ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
OCR ,
OIRA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Student Athletes ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Transgender
Franczek P.C. is pleased to announce the publication of its Legislative Update for schools. A PDF version of the 2024 School Law Legislative Update is now available...more
As we previously reported, under new School Code amendments made by Faith’s Law aimed to address sexual abuse prevention and response in schools, school districts, charter and non-public schools are required to implement new...more
The new legal requirements under Erin’s Law and Faith’s Law will be in full effect as schools begin the 2023-2024 school year. As we have previously reported, under new School Code amendments made by Faith’s Law and Erin’s...more
We want to share a quick Title IX update from the Department of Education. The Department just announced through a blog post that due to the large number of public comments it received regarding its proposed rules to Title IX...more
5/30/2023
/ Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
Governor Pritzker’s disaster proclamation, declaring a public health emergency due to COVID-19, ends today, May 11, 2023. As a result, COVID-leave rights, and other rights contingent upon the Governor’s public health...more
5/11/2023
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Illinois ,
Leave of Absence ,
New Guidance ,
Open Meetings Act ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Remote Learning ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Workplace Safety
We previously shared our School Law Legislative Update, focused on new Illinois school-related laws that became effective January 1, 2023. From that update, our team at Franczek P.C. has compiled a narrower list of those laws...more
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
1/18/2023
/ Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Hate Speech ,
Mahanoy Area School District v B.L. ,
School Districts ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Student Speech ,
Students ,
Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School Dist.
Happy New Year! Several Illinois laws related to schools became effective January 1, 2023, and our team at Franczek P.C. has compiled them in its new School Law Legislative Update, focused on new laws in effect in 2023. A PDF...more
1/10/2023
/ Bereavement Leave ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employees ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Health and Safety ,
LGBTQ ,
Mental Health ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
School Lunch Programs ,
Special Education ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Wage and Hour
The Biden Administration has recently taken steps through agency guidance, rulemaking and decision-making to highlight protections for students and employees with pregnancy-related conditions, including abortion, under the...more
10/25/2022
/ Abortion ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Educational Institutions ,
Healthcare ,
New Guidance ,
OCR ,
Pregnancy ,
Reproductive Discrimination ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Title IX
On July 19, 2022, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) released several guidance documents concerning the civil rights of students...more
8/2/2022
/ Department of Education ,
Disabled Children ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) ,
IDEA ,
New Guidance ,
OCR ,
Section 504 ,
Special Education ,
Students
Over the past year, the Illinois Legislature has amended the School Code to add numerous requirements aimed to address sexual abuse prevention and response in schools. Known as Faith’s Law and Erin’s Law, the amendments...more
The Illinois State Police (“ISP”) has issued an emergency rule regarding the retention and use of reports made regarding individuals found to pose a “clear and present danger” under the Illinois Firearm Owners Identification...more
7/21/2022
/ Concealed Weapons ,
Dangerous Condition ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Emergency Response ,
Emergency Rule ,
Firearms ,
Illinois ,
Law Enforcement ,
Reporting Requirements ,
School Safety ,
School Shootings ,
Students
You may have noticed while skimming through the new Title IX proposed regulations that there are now seemingly two grievance procedures to address Title IX complaints instead of one. You’ll recall that the current 2020...more
7/1/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Education ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender Identity ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
Yesterday, the Biden administration released its highly anticipated proposed Title IX regulations on the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX. The Department also released a fact sheet on the draft rule as well as the...more
6/24/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
This week, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation signed into law on June 23 as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. Consisting of a mere 37 words—“No person in the United States shall,...more
Earlier this year, we launched a multi-part series where we provide a refresher on the key players on the Title IX team under the current 2020 regulations. While we wait for the Biden administration to release their proposed...more
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that school districts may only be liable for employee sexual misconduct when a school official has actual notice of the conduct. In C.S. v. Madison Metropolitan School District, the...more
5/27/2022
/ Child Abuse ,
Child Protection Laws ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Grooming Policies ,
Illinois ,
Minor Children ,
School Districts ,
Sexual Abuse ,
Sexual Conduct ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Title IX ,
Vulnerable Victims
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently announced a resolution agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District largely addressing issues related to OCR’s finding that the District...more
5/17/2022
/ California ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) ,
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OCR ,
Public Schools ,
Remote Learning ,
Section 504 ,
Special Education ,
Students
The U.S. Department of Education recently announced its intent to amend the regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to “strengthen and protect rights for students with disabilities.” While the...more
5/17/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Education ,
Disabilities ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
OCR ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Section 504 ,
Students
School district practices on referrals to local law enforcement for student misconduct in schools are facing intense scrutiny in the wake of the ProPublica investigation reported these past weeks in the Chicago Tribune. ...more
In March, the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington ruled against a school district in favor of a student with intellectual disabilities, who was awarded $500,000 by a jury based on the district’s failure...more
4/26/2022
/ Disabled Children ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Negligence ,
School Districts ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Special Education ,
Students ,
Title IX
In March, President Biden signed into law the Violence against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA), which Congress passed as part of the FY22 Omnibus appropriations bill. First passed in 1994 and reauthorized in...more
4/11/2022
/ Clery Act ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities ,
VAWA
We recently launched a multi-part series where we are providing a refresher on the key players on the Title IX team under the current 2020 regulations. While we wait for the Biden administration to release their proposed...more
3/16/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Colleges ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities