On January 20, 2025, one of President Trump’s first actions as the president of the United States was signing an Executive Order proclaiming that the U.S. government only recognizes two sexes: male and female. The order goes...more
1/22/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Education ,
Discrimination ,
Equal Protection ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender Identity ,
Harassment ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title IX
The start of a new year may prompt questions regarding hot button areas of the law in flux. We have received questions about several such issues and what they mean for educators. Title IX, immigration enforcement, and school...more
1/17/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
FERPA ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Private Schools ,
Public Schools ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Legislatures ,
Title IX ,
Universities
On Thursday, January 9, 2025, Judge John C. Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky issued an opinion and order vacating the Final Rule that implemented the 2024 Title IX Regulations. The decision by Judge Reeves has the...more
Happy New Year! Several Illinois laws related to schools became effective January 1, 2025, and our team at Franczek P.C. has compiled them in its new School Law Legislative Update, focused on new laws in effect in 2025. A PDF...more
1/6/2025
/ Disabled Children ,
Educational Institutions ,
Illinois ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Safety Standards ,
School Boards ,
School Districts ,
Special Education ,
State and Local Government ,
Student Athletes ,
Students
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
Thanks to a recent legislative change, the campaign season for those wishing to run for the school board now begins about a month earlier. Historically, the window set forth in the Election Code for filing nominating...more
Schools throughout the country are preparing to implement the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights’ (“OCR”) long-awaited final 2024 Title IX regulations. These new regulations, which replace the 2020...more
8/2/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Colleges ,
Department of Education ,
Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
Illinois ,
LGBTQ ,
New Regulations ,
OCR ,
School Districts ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title IX ,
Universities
Now that the 2024 Title IX regulations have been released, what does your school need to do to be fully compliant by August 1? Over the next few months, our Franczek Title IX team will provide tips and information on key...more
Earlier this morning, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights released its long-awaited final Title IX regulations on sexual harassment. These new regulations, which replace the 2020 rules, will take effect on...more
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
On November 7, 2023, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) that reminds schools of their Title VI obligations to provide all students with a learning environment...more
This school year has begun with a number of changes related to teacher tenure, evaluations, and dismissals. On August 4, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 103-0500, revising the Illinois School Code...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
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
As we’re nearing the end of the calendar year, many of you may be wondering where things stand with the Biden Administration’s proposed Title IX regulations. As we previously reported on this blog, the proposed Title IX rule...more
11/23/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Education ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
LGBTQ ,
OCR ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Title IX
Recently, the Seventh Circuit—the circuit court governing Illinois—upheld a lower court’s judgment in favor of a school district defending against two reverse race discrimination claims brought by a longtime District...more
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