The General Assembly and Governor Shapiro recently enacted various legislation affecting school entities. The following is a brief summary of those developments....more
Pennsylvania’s Educator Discipline Act governs educator misconduct complaints filed with the Department of Education for investigation and, if warranted, discipline. 24 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 2070.9. Once a misconduct complaint is...more
1/30/2024
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Confidential Information ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Education ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Misconduct ,
First Amendment ,
Misdemeanors ,
Professional Disciplinary Actions ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Strict Scrutiny Standard ,
Teachers ,
Unconstitutional Condition
Save Our Saltsburg Schools v. River Valley School District, No. 1140 C.D. 2021 (Pa.Cmwlth. November 7, 2022) (Commonwealth Court rejects community group’s efforts to invalidate school district’s decision to close a school...more
Rebecca Cartee-Haring v. Central Bucks School District, Civil Action No. 20-1995 (E.D. Pa. 8/24/22) (A federal court grants certification of a collective action by female teachers pursuing an Equal Pay Act claim for...more
12/8/2022
/ Class Certification ,
Collective Actions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Equal Protection ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Teachers ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wage and Hour
On June 30, 2021, Governor Tom Wolf signed into law Act 65 of 2021, amending the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act to establish new public notice requirements applicable to meetings of school districts’ boards of school directors....more
Morgan v. Mifflin County School District, Case No. 1:2–CV-01930 (M.D. Pa. 2020). The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued a restraining order enjoining a school district policy...more
The General Assembly and Governor Wolfe recently enacted various legislation affecting school entities. The following is a brief summary of those developments....more
Doe v. Boyertown Area School District, 2017 WL 3675418 (E.D. Pa. 2017) (A Pennsylvania federal court denied a motion for a preliminary injunction in a case brought by four students (plaintiffs) in opposition to school policy...more
Russell Bittendender, et ux. v. Bangor Area School District, Case No. 15-6465 (E.D. Pa. 2017). The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania refused to dismiss a complaint alleging that a school...more
The legal landscape regarding transgender student rights in public schools continues to evolve. Within the last week, several developments have occurred:
..On February 22, 2017, the U.S. Departments of Education and...more
In the Matter of Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (Petition of Blackboard, Inc.), CG Docket No. 02-278 (August 2016). The FCC confirms that schools may send informational...more
Watts v. Manheim Central School District, 112 MAP 2014 (Pa. 2015). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed an earlier ruling of the Commonwealth Court that, when a school district provides transportation, it must transport a...more
Hoffman v. Steel Valley School District, 1002 C.D. 2014 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2015). The provision of public transit passes to charter school students fulfills the requirements of the Charter School Law for the provision of...more
School districts and municipalities often accept form agreements provided by their design professional or consultants, or use a standardized set of construction contract documents (such as the American Institute of Architects...more