Penncrest School District. v. Cagle, 293 A.3d 783 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2023). The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania establishes a three-part test that must be used to determine if an individual’s social media post is a record of an...more
In recent years, the legal rights of transgender students have been litigated in courts around the country. While court decisions have provided some guidance for school districts, many questions remain. This article addresses...more
12/8/2022
/ Equal Protection ,
Gender Dysphoria ,
Gender Identity ,
Parental Rights ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
School Restrooms ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Student Athletes ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Transgender
C.G. by and through P.G. v. Saucon Valley Sch. Dist., 5:21-CV-03956, 2021 WL 5399920, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 18, 2021). The District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania grants student’s request for preliminary...more
Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B. L. by and through Levy, 141 S. Ct. 2038 (2021). The United States Supreme Court holds that while schools can sometimes regulate student speech that takes place off-campus, the school district...more
10/11/2021
/ Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Mahanoy Area School District v B.L. ,
Online Platforms ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
Snapchat ,
Student Speech ,
Students ,
Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School Dist.
Highlands School District v. Rittmeyer, — A.3d –, 2020 WL 7061810, 163 C.D. 2020 (Pa. Commw. Dec. 3, 2020). Commonwealth Court holds that school districts are not required to disclose the names of employees when issuing a...more
Easton Area Sch. Dist. v. Miller, 232 A.3d 716 (Pa. 2020). Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds that images of students in a school bus surveillance video are “educational records” under FERPA and must be redacted before...more
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) is a respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) virus, and we are learning more about it every day. There is currently no vaccine to protect against COVID-19. At this point, the best way...more
In Maciejewski v. Southern Columbia Area School District, AP 2019-1094 (Sept 16, 2019), the Request sought all emails between 10 District email addresses over a 14-day time frame. The District argued that certain responsive...more
In Galvez v. West York Area School District, AP 2019-0267 (May 15, 2019), a reporter requested a portion of a school bus surveillance video depicting a student altercation. The District denied the request, arguing that the...more
Commonwealth Court Holds That School Surveillance Videos Showing Interactions Between Adults And Students Are Not Education Records Under FERPA and Are Public Records Under The RTKL -
Easton Area Sch. Dist. v. Miller, 191...more
B.L. by Levy v. Mahanoy Area School District (“Levy”), Case No. 3:17-CV-1734, 2017 WL 4418290 (M.D. Pa. Oct. 5, 2017). District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania grants cheerleader’s Motion for Preliminary...more
On Sunday, November 5, 2017, Governor Wolf allowed HB 178, the omnibus School Code bill, to become law without his signature. The bill, now Act 55 of 2017, among other things, amends Section 1337 of the School Code to...more
Hawkins v. Central Dauphin School District, AP 2016-0583, 2016 PA O.O.R.D. LEXIS 760. The Office of Open Records reverses its earlier decision and holds that a video from a school bus video system showing an altercation...more
Pennsylvania State Education Association v. Commonwealth, 2016 Pa. LEXIS 2337, 2016 WL 6087684, (Pa. Oct. 18, 2016) (“PSEA”). The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently held that individuals have a constitutional right to...more
G. G. v. Gloucester County School Board, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 7026 (4th Cir. Va. Apr. 19, 2016). A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reverses the lower court’s dismissal of a transgender boy’s...more
6/21/2016
/ Appeals ,
Auer Deference ,
Department of Education ,
Equal Protection ,
Gender Identity ,
Public Schools ,
Reversal ,
School Restrooms ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Transgender
Pennsylvania Department of Education v. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2015 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 316 (Pa. Commw. Ct. July 14, 2015). Pennsylvania Supreme Court reverses the Office of Open records and holds that a request must meet...more