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
Recently, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued two non-binding opinions concerning the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), both upholding school district decisions to exert exemptions and withhold key documents under the...more
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 Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) recently issued two new binding opinions concerning the FOIA—one upholding a public body’s denial of a FOIA request for union records and another finding application materials for...more
Governor Pritzker recently signed two bills into law, expanding accessibility and flexibility within special education. The first, Public Act 102-0703 (House Bill 4365), allows IEP teams to place students at non-ISBE-approved...more
On June 29, 2022, Governor Pritzker signed Public Act 12-1101 (House Bill 4813) into law, amending Section 10-20.21 of the Illinois School Code, which generally requires contracts that are subject to the bidding process to be...more
The Illinois Appellate Court recently issued a new decision regarding the FOIA. In Kraft v. Chicago Police Department, the Court ruled in favor of the police department, finding it properly exempted records as unduly...more
As we discussed in a previous alert, the Biden administration recently released its proposed Title IX regulations. Today, the administration published the proposed regulations in the Federal Register, beginning the 60-day...more
7/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
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
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
The PAC recently released its second binding opinion of 2022, which provides helpful analysis and guidance regarding the personal and pre-decisional exemptions under the FOIA. The PAC determined that the City of Chicago...more
The Office of the Illinois Attorney General and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recently issued new non-regulatory guidance to assist public K-12 school districts with applying student discipline policies in a...more
Public Act 102-0339 requires each school district’s time out and physical restraint oversight team to develop a plan for reducing and eventually eliminating the use of isolated time out, time out, and physical restraint in...more
In a highly anticipated decision earlier this month, OCR reaffirmed the broad discretion that religious institutions may have under the religious exemption in Title IX. ...more
2/22/2022
/ Dismissals ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
OCR ,
Religious Exemption ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
Same-Sex Harassment ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title IX
In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed that Title IX provides adequate notice to federal funding recipients of their responsibility to respond to known sexual harassment if they have control over...more
2/22/2022
/ Appeals ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Third-Party ,
Title IX
In its first binding opinion of the year, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) provides further clarity to the attorney-client privilege exemption under Section 7(1)(m) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Specifically, the...more
This morning, the United States Senate passed a bill creating the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021.” The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this week, meaning...more
2/10/2022
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment
As we noted in our last blog post, the Biden administration recently announced plans to propose amendments to the Title IX regulations by April 2022. While this deadline is fast approaching, before you start thinking about...more
2/8/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Training ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
School Safety ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Title IX Coordinator
In 2019, we reported on the case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District involving a football coach at Bremerton High School in Washington state who was placed on administrative leave by his public school district for praying...more
2/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Certiorari ,
Coaches ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Employment Litigation ,
Establishment Clause ,
First Amendment ,
Football ,
Free Speech ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Prayer ,
Public Employees ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
SCOTUS
The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced that it would again consider the role race plays in college admissions by taking up two cases where race-conscious admissions policies are at issue. ...more
Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a decision regarding the FOIA, upholding a public body’s redaction of traffic accident reports pursuant to Sections 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(c) of the FOIA....more
In a rare binding opinion, the Public Access Counselor (PAC)—the division of the Attorney General that reviews appeals regarding the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA)—issued a new binding...more
Governor Pritzker recently signed Public Act 102-0676 (HB 1975) into law, which addresses sexual abuse prevention in schools. The new law is intended to address staff-student boundaries and appropriate professional conduct,...more
1/26/2022
/ Child Abuse ,
Child Protection Laws ,
Code of Conduct ,
Crime Victims ,
Educational Institutions ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Minor Children ,
New Regulations ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Acts ,
School Districts ,
Sexual Abuse ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Conduct ,
Vulnerable Victims
Over the summer, we reported on the passage of Public Act 102-0339, which aims to reduce and the use of time out, isolated time out, and physical restraint (referred to herein as “restrictive interventions”) in schools. ...more
1/26/2022
/ Child Abuse ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Health and Safety ,
ISBE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Acts ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restraints ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Students