Welcome Back for Season 2! On the Call: FERPA
School's back in session and so is On the Call! Welcome to the second season of On the Call. In this episode, Erin and Jeremy cover the "F" word and what happens when a mistake is made under FERPA. They share an example of a recent mistake made by a school district in...
Short Series Podcast: Transgender K-12, The Playing Field: Students’ Rights and Athletics
In episode five, Erin and Giselle venture onto the playing field of student rights, including athletic participation, parent’s rights and what it all means under the newly proposed change to Title IX regulations on students’ eligibility for athletic teams. They tackle...
Short Series Podcast: Transgender K-12, Executive Actions and Title IX
In the 4th episode, Erin and Giselle wrap up the discussion surrounding significant court decisions from around the country and where the Biden Presidential administration has landed related to transgender students and examining new areas of challenges to student...
Short Series Podcast: Transgender K-12, Overview of Case Law Part II
In this episode, Erin and Giselle move to the starboard side of the ship to highlight two cases related to privacy of cisgender students, parents' rights, and recognition of religious beliefs under Title IX and equal protection. The cases were brought by parents of...
Short Series Podcast: Transgender K-12, Case Law Related to Bathroom Policies
Episode 2: Overview of Case Law Related to Bathroom Policies Erin and Giselle take a steadfast review of four interesting cases charting the initial path for school bathroom policies under Title IX and equal protection as they impact transgender students in K-12...
Department of Education Investigates Removal of Library Books in Schools
During the 2021-2022 school year, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation into Forsyth County Schools following a complaint that the district discriminated against students on the basis of sex, race, color, and national origin. Forsyth County Schools...
Education Department Issues Guidance on Religious Expression in Schools
On May 15, 2023, the United States Department of Education issued a “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools” document. Coaches are referenced several times throughout the guidance, and it is...
Special Education Update: Latest Budget Bill Draft Includes Troubling Special Education Provisions
On June 8, 2023, the Senate Finance Committee released its draft of the HB 33, the state biennium budget bill. The draft contained some unfortunate proposals that will impact special education if passed in the final version of the bill, which is expected by the end of...
CTC Corner: Accessibility of Online Services and Programs Focus of Enforcement by DOJ andOCR
On May 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights issued a joint Dear Colleague letter (“Letter”) reminding postsecondary institutions of their obligations to ensure that the online...
On the Call Podcast: Field Trips
Make sure your permission slip is signed and your seat belt is fastened as Jeremy and Erin take us on the field trip roller coaster ride in this season's final episode. They share insights about the laws covering field trips under 504 and IDEA and complications you...
Short Series Podcast: Transgender K-12, Taking a Look Back
In this 6-episode series of The Ennis Britton Short Series Podcast: Transgender K-12, attorneys Erin Wessendorf-Wortman and Giselle Spencer take a deep dive into the ever-changing landscape of K-12 schools and transgender students. They will cover the history and...
On the Call Podcast: Extracurricular Activities
Go Team! Whether it's cheerleading, football, e-sports or D&D, ensuring your coaches and club advisors have the proper game plan for extracurricular activity participation can keep you out of the penalty box. Erin and Jeremy cover some of the significant guidance...
Plan For Payment In Lieu of Transportation
Successful transportation programs have had to adjust their timelines for declaring transportation impractical and offering payment in lieu of transportation (PILOT) due to new statutory deadlines and processes enacted in 2021. Here are some reminders about those...
Special Education Update: Court Limits Federal COVID-19 Litigation
Simpson-Vlach v. Michigan Dep’t of Educ. (6th Cir. 5/11/23) On May 11, 2023, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request of a group of parents to issue an order governing special education services during future school closures like those that occurred...
Career Tech Corner: Governor DeWine and the Ohio House Prioritize Career Technical Centers in Ohio Budget
In the proposed budget awaiting Senate approval for the upcoming fiscal year, the Ohio House followed Governor Mike DeWine’s lead and made career technical centers a priority. H.B. 33 which passed the Ohio House on April 26, 2023, includes a $100 million appropriation...
Want to Use Cooperative Purchasing Power for Construction Services? Call Your Representatives!
HB 145, 135th General Assembly There is legislation currently pending in the House to clarify that ORC 9.48 applies to construction services. The attorneys here at Ennis Britton frequently hear from superintendents, treasurers, and business managers from around the...
Court of Appeals Overrules Trial Court in Employee Termination Matter
Matthews v. Springfield-Clark CTC Bd. of Edn., 2023-Ohio-1304. Springfield Clark CTC terminated a custodial supervisor for a variety of reasons, including, going into his supervisor’s office and reviewing, copying, and removing documents, all of which were supported...
Court Finds Coach Retweeting Book Passage was Fair Use
Bell v. The Milwaukee Bd. of Sch. Dirs., 123 LRP 2649 (E.D. Wis. 12/21/22). The Eastern District of Wisconsin recently dismissed an author’s copyright infringement claim against a high school basketball coach and school district finding in favor of the school...
The 9th Circuit Rules On Graduation Dress Code
Waln v. Dysart Sch. Dist., 54 F.4th 1152 (9th Cir. 2022). In 2019, Dysart School District prohibited a student from decorating her graduation cap. The school district had a graduation policy that prohibited students from decorating their graduation caps; however, the...
On the Call Podcast: Staffing Shortages
What's your favorite carnival game? "Whack-A-Mole" or the "Ring Toss", perhaps? Every day can feel like a never ending carnival game when trying to balance the needs of special education students during unprecedented staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic....
On the Call Podcast: MDR Change of Placement
Educators and administrators are some of the kindest people around and, in an effort to make it easy for parents, will sometimes try to avoid the MDR process when student discipline becomes an issue. But side-stepping the MDR process and inadvertently making a...