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 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 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
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
As a presidential candidate, now-President Biden promised that he would put a “quick end” to the Trump administration’s 2020 Title IX rules. Aiming to keep that promise, the Department of Education announced its intention to...more
12/14/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Education ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Rape ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year! As we begin, special education leaders should take note of several new laws recently signed by the Governor. We have been talking a lot about HB 40 and HB 2748, which extend transition...more
8/24/2021
/ Disabled Children ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) ,
Mental Health ,
New Legislation ,
Public Schools ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Remote Learning ,
Special Education ,
Students ,
Website Accessibility
Recently, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a Request for Information that asks members of the public to submit written comments regarding the administration of school discipline in...more
On May 30, 2021, the Illinois legislature passed HB219, which will further restrict the use of time out and physical restraint in Illinois schools. The legislation will take effect upon signature by Governor Pritzker. You may...more
6/3/2021
/ Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) ,
ISBE ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Restraints ,
Special Education ,
Students
Prior to winter break, we wrote about proposed legislation that would further limit the use of physical restraint and time out in Illinois schools. While many expected the bill to pass during the lame duck session earlier...more
Over the past year, the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools has come under increased scrutiny. While ISBE issued emergency rules at the end of last November, followed by a series of updates and then final...more
12/2/2020
/ Child Abuse ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) ,
ISBE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restraints ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Students
Schools planning for students to return to campus in person this fall are confronting many significant challenges, including how to support students who may need physical restraint while also maintaining safe practices to...more
Last fall, in response to serious concerns raised about the use of isolated time out and physical restraint in schools, ISBE issued emergency rules to limit the use of those behavior management techniques. ...more
As the issues related to the mandated school closures in response to the COVID-19 crisis continue to rapidly evolve, the Governor extended the closure through April 7, and in all likelihood, Illinois schools will remain...more
3/31/2020
/ Act of God ,
Business Closures ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Education ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
FERPA ,
IDEA ,
ISBE ,
School Closures ,
Special Education ,
Student Enrollment ,
Student Records ,
Students
Last week, ISBE reversed course on isolated time out. After initially banning the practice in late November 2019, ISBE heard from many stakeholders that having a staff member in a time out room with an escalated student was...more
3/3/2020
/ Child Abuse ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Rule ,
ISBE ,
New Guidance ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Restraints ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
State Bans ,
Students
On February 25, 2020, ISBE posted a second amendment to its emergency rules governing physical restraint and time out. This new amendment, which is effective immediately, is the most recent development in ISBE’s attempts to...more
2/26/2020
/ Child Abuse ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Rule ,
ISBE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Restraints ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
State Bans ,
Students
As an Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigator, I was surprised by the number of times I saw the same issues again and again in Title IX sexual misconduct investigations. Nowhere was this more evident than with...more
2/26/2020
/ Colleges ,
Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
FERPA ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Investigations ,
OCR ,
Rape ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Student Privacy ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
On February 18, 2020, ISBE approved revised proposed rules related to the use of physical restraint and time out in schools. The revised proposed rules follow ISBE’s receipt and review of over three hundredb comments on...more
2/20/2020
/ Child Abuse ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Health and Safety ,
ISBE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Restraints ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Students ,
Training Requirements
After receiving and reviewing questions and concerns from stakeholders regarding the practical implications of its emergency rules on the use of time out and physical restraint, the Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”)...more
1/10/2020
/ Child Abuse ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Rule ,
ISBE ,
New Guidance ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Restraints ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
State Bans ,
Students
Within the last few weeks, there have been significant changes to the Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) rules regarding time out and physical restraint. First, ISBE issued emergency rules, then it...more
1/10/2020
/ Child Abuse ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Rule ,
ISBE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Restraints ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
State Bans ,
Students ,
Training Requirements
In response to outcry from educators in and outside of Illinois about the legitimate need to use prone and supine restraint for certain diverse learners and the lack of notice to allow teams to identify alternative...more
12/5/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Board of Education ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Discipline ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Rule ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restraints ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Students
As we previously reported, effective immediately, school districts must comply with ISBE emergency rules for the use of seclusion and restraint....more
11/22/2019
/ Child Abuse ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Rule ,
ISBE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Restraints ,
Risk Management ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State Bans ,
Strict Compliance ,
Students
As the kick-off to the school year winds down and daily routines take shape, we start to see serious student discipline issues pop up. And one situation that always leads to confusion is what to do when a student who does not...more
On August 23, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-531 (Act) which puts into place a number of measures aimed at increasing student safety....more
9/25/2019
/ Charter Schools ,
Child Abuse ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Failure to Report ,
Felons ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Investigations ,
ISBE ,
License Suspensions ,
Licensing Rules ,
New Legislation ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Professional Development ,
Public Acts ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Safety Standards ,
Sex Offenders ,
State and Local Government ,
Students
Most changes we’ve seen from the U.S. Department of Education (Department) these past two-and-a-half years have dealt with sex, gender, race, color, and national origin—not disability—and most have reduced federal oversight,...more