Education Law Insights

One of the critical and unprecedented challenges to reopening school during Fall 2020—whether in-person, remotely, or using a hybrid model—is providing students with disabilities a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). In this episode, our panel of Franczek special education attorneys Dana Fattore Crumley,   Jennifer Smith , and  Kendra Yoch  and moderator  Jackie Wernz discuss FAPE in Fall 20...

In this episode, our panel of Franczek attorneys, including Shelli Anderson ,  Dana Fattore Crumley ,  Jennifer Smith , and  Jackie Wernz , along with very special guest,  PJ Caposey, Superintendent of Meridian CUSD 223, discuss the many lessons learned from back to school. Dr. Caposey provides insights from Meridian 223's first days using a hybrid model of in-person and remote instruction.

In this episode, our regular panel of Franczek attorneys, including Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer , and  Jackie Gharapour Wernz welcomed Todd Faulkner to discuss teacher evaluations across various in-person and remote settings during a pandemic. 

In this episode, our regular panel of Franczek attorneys, including Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley ,  Jennifer Smith , and  Jackie Gharapour Wernz , welcome Carrie Stacy, Director of Special Education at North Palos School District 117, to discuss a chart to help teams navigate decisions about mask medical exemptions for students. 

In this episode, our regular panel of Franczek attorneys, including Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley , and  Jennifer Smith discuss a wide variety of employment issues and challenges schools are facing during COVID-19.

In this episode, Franczek partners Nicki Bazer  and  Jackie Wernz are joined by Sarah Hartwick, Executive Director at ED-RED, and Don Tufano, Director of Technology & Innovation at Riverside School District 96 to discuss SOPPA. Recent amendments to the Illinois  Student Online Personal Protection Act  (SOPPA) go into effect on July 1, 2021, but school districts must act now to ensure that they wil...

In this episode, our regular panel of Franczek attorneys, including Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley ,  Jennifer Smith , and special guest Michael Hernandez , dedicated this episode to our clients, friends, and peers' questions. We know that back to school plans are developing at a dizzying pace. Our attorneys spent the hour addressing your issues.

One of the requirements of the new Title IX regulations–the mandate to post all materials used to train Title IX personnel on a school's website–has understandably raised questions for K-12 and higher education institutions regarding copyright compliance. In this episode, Jackie Wernz and Ashly Boesche discuss this issue.

In this episode, our regular panel of Franczek attorneys, including Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley , and  Jennifer Smith , along with special guest  Ares Dalianis , discussed back to school plans and spent the hour addressing questions. 

In this episode, Franczek attorneys Dana Fattore Crumley  and  Jennifer Smith welcome special guests  Dr. Ruth Kraus,  child psychologist, and  Micki Moran , an attorney specializing in representing students in special education matters, to discuss student social and emotional needs as we return to fall instruction. Administrators and educators are aware that social and emotional habits and skills...

In this episode, we discuss recent joint guidance from ISBE/IDPH on Phase 4 reopening. We know how hard school board members, superintendents, and other administrators and educators are working to make sense of the recommendations and mandates to prepare for a return to in-person instruction in the fall.  Our panel of Franczek attorneys, including Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer , and  Jackie Ghara...

In this episode, Franczek labor and employment attorneys welcome special guest Toya Campbell, Chief Human Resources Officer at Evanston Township High School. Franczek attorneys Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley ,  Jennifer Dunn ,  Sally Scott , and  Jackie Gharapour Wernz  are joined by Ms. Campbell to discuss the continued impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on labor and employmen...

In this episode, Shelli Anderson ,  Dana Fattore Crumley , and  Jennifer Smith are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Melissa Kaczkowski of Glen Ellyn School District 41, Dr. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams of Oak Park River Forest High School District, and Dr. Susan Zola of Champaign Community Unit School District 4 to provide the Superintendent perspective on COVID-19 related issues impacting schools in the fall...

In this episode, Franczek attorneys Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Jennifer Dunn ,  Sally Scott , and  Jackie Gharapour Wernz address the differences to the face of education that fall 2020 will bring as they relate to staff. Don't wait for a genie in a bottle to wish away your fears about the labor and employment impacts of the changes the 2020-2021 school year will bring. Topics covered inclu...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has taken a toll on the federal, state, and local economies and threatens to impair values in the real estate market. Local property taxes are the life blood of school district revenues. How property is assessed is crucial to the local tax base, and how taxes are collected is vital to the ability to fund educational services. In this episode, Ares Dalianis ,  Michael Her...

In this episode, Franczek attorneys Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley ,  Jennifer Smith , and  Jackie Gharapour Wernz with special guest Mina Griffith , Assistant Superintendent for Student Services at Plainfield School District 202, discuss the differences to the face of education that fall 2020 will bring. We have always had some "spaced out" students, but ongoing social dis...

We may not know when society will open back up, but we can be relatively sure that when schools open again—hopefully, this fall—they will look different than in years past. In this episode, we address the differences as they relate to the school physical plant. Whether schools educate students in staggered schedules or all at once with more focus on social distancing, school leaders must begin to...

The summer is a great time to check items off your to do list, and this summer will be no different. But your list of priorities for summer 2020 will be very different than in past years as a result of COVID-19. Topics covered will include negotiating the process for appeal of unsatisfactory ratings, check-ins with reluctant e-learners, preparing to resume public board meetings and in-school learn...

After almost one-and-a-half years, the U.S. Department of Education has issued  final Title IX regulations . In this episode, Amy Dickerson ,  Emily Tulloch , and  Jackie Wernz discuss the change that are now in effect as well as important differences between the proposed and final rules.

The school year is coming to an end. School leaders must grapple with a number of legal issues to shepherd the school year to a satisfactory close in the COVID-19 era. From grades to graduation requirements and ceremonies, locker cleanouts to technology returns, and building cleaning to human resources issues, this episode will provide a roadmap for school leaders on the legal issues to keep in mi...

In this episode, special guest Jim Franczek , firm founder and President, provides unparalleled insight into the efforts of State and Chicago leadership in addressing critical education issues facing Illinois during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. Jim is joined by Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley , and  Jennifer Smith , with host  Jackie Gharapour Wernz .  Top...

In this episode, we continue to address the issues impacting our schools during the coronavirus pandemic. The panel includes Franczek partners Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley , and  Jennifer Smith , with host  Jackie Gharapour Wernz  and special guest  Kendra Yoch . As these critical issues are ever-changing, we hope these timely updates are of use to you and your colleagues...

In this episode, we continue to address the issues impacting our schools during the coronavirus pandemic. The panel includes Franczek partners Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley , and  Jennifer Smith , with host  Jackie Gharapour Wernz  and special guest  Ares Dalianis . As these critical issues are ever-changing, we hope these timely updates are of use to you and your colleagu...

In this episode, we continue to address the issues impacting our schools during the coronavirus pandemic. The panel includes Franczek partners Shelli Anderson ,  Nicki Bazer ,  Dana Fattore Crumley , and  Jennifer Smith , with host  Jackie Gharapour Wernz . As these critical issues are ever-changing, we hope these timely updates are of use to you and your colleagues.