Let’s Talk - Lozano Smith Podcast

Hosts Sloan Simmons joins veteran municipal practitioner James Sanchez and Governance Practice Group Co-Chair Ryan Tung to discuss the election process and the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), including the legal requirements and practical impacts of the CVRA, as well as best practices for California public entities following the transition from at-large to trustee area elections. Show Notes &...

Hosts Joshua Whiteside and Sloan Simmons are back to discuss the latest litigation development related to a school district’s student COVID-19 vaccination mandate and the rapidly changing guidance and directives related to student and staff mask requirements, including CDPH’s recent announcement that face masks are no longer legally required indoors at K-12 schools after March 11, 2022. Show Notes...

Host Sloan Simmons joins partners and Lozano Smith Labor and Employment Co-Practice Group Leaders Michelle Cannon and Gabriela Flowers to discuss several important school district labor and employment deadlines that fall on March 15.  This brief but information packed episode includes discussion on various types of release from employment as well as layoffs.  Additionally, this year, for the first...

Host Joshua Whiteside joins Lozano Smith partner Sloan Simmons to discuss the present status of student COVID-19 vaccination and student masks requirements, including the status of State directives on point and the results of litigation in these areas. Show Notes & References 0:48 – California Department of Public Health (CDPH) February 15, 2022 announcement and upcoming CDPH February 28, 2022...

Host Sloan Simmons joins Lozano Smith partner Arne Sandberg to discuss modular buildings for California school districts, including the basics about modular buildings, procurement alternatives, and new legal developments impacting this area of school construction. Show Notes & References 1:24 – Modular buildings 2:05 – Modular component buildings vs. modular portables 4:55 – Issue of permanent...

Host Joshua Whiteside joins Lozano Smith attorney Ruth Mendyk to discuss updates and new obligations facing educational agencies now and during the second half of the 2021-22 school year. This discussion includes a review of important legislation from the Fall 2021 legislative session. Show Notes & References 2:30 – Education Code 48205 – Excused absences 2:50 – Senate Bill (SB) 14 (urge...

Following COVID-19 school closures during the 2019-2020 school year, many school districts are faced with making determinations regarding potential compensatory education for their special education student populations.  Host Sloan Simmons discusses the concept of compensatory education and school closures with Lozano Smith special education experts Marcy Gutierrez and Collen Villarreal, including...

For the first time since 2007, the United States Supreme Court has weighed-in on student free speech rights under the First Amendment. In Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. , the high court addressed for the first time the parameters and limits for schools’ regulation of student off-campus speech. In this episode, Lozano Smith student speech experts Mike Smith and Sloan Simmons break down the Su...

With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and California’s “reopening,” host Sloan Simmons has a timely discussion with Lozano Smith Governance Co-Practice Group Leader, Anne Collins and Lozano Smith Technology and Innovation Practice Group Leader Travis Cochran regarding the state of the law and future of public meetings under the Brown Act in light of pending legislation that would continue flexi...

Host Sloan Simmons facilitates a timely and interesting discussion with Lozano Smith Charter School Practice Group Leaders, Ed Sklar and Erin Hamor , regarding the status of charter school reform legislation and the impacts of COVID-19 on the same. Show Notes & References 2:10 – Review of charter reform legislation over the last two years 2:31 – Assembly Bill (AB) 1505 3:26 – State dashboard 7...

Lozano Smith attorneys Constantine Baranoff and Daniel Maruccia join host Sloan Simmons in an informative and detailed discussion of how Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts have evolved in California with attorneys who focus on public finance and who have formed EIFDs throughout the state. They also discuss available financing structures and explore projects (including freeway overlay and...

Host Sloan Simmons joins Lozano Smith attorneys Ruth Mendyk and Joshua Whiteside to discuss updates to district policies and practices during the 2020-21 school year, pending legislation on student retention and grading issues for 2021-22 and proposed curriculum and kindergarten / preschool related issues for future years. Show Notes & References 2:30 – Assembly Bill (AB) 1127 – Expanded...

Host Sloan Simmons talks with Lozano Smith attorneys Ruth Mendyk and Chelsea Olson Murphy about the latest developments on COVID-19 and student athletics, with a focus on the most recent guidance from the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), as well as other state public health directives and guidance heading into the 2020-2021 school year. Updates UPDATE 12/1/2020 – CIF puts hold on start...

Host Sloan Simmons talks with Lozano Smith Special Education attorneys Alyssa Bivins and Marcy Gutierrez about the latest developments on COVID-19 and special education, with a focus on Senate Bill 98 and the most recent state and federal directives and guidance heading into the 2020-2021 school year. Show Notes & References 1:40 – California Department of Public Health Guidance (July 17, 2020...

Host Sloan Simmons talks with Lozano Smith attorneys Desiree Serrano and Aimee Perry about the latest developments on COVID-19 and students, with a focus on Senate Bill 98 and the most recent state agency directives and guidance heading into the 2020-2021 school year. Show Notes & References 2:18 – Requirements for in-person instruction 2:40 – Senate Bill (SB) 98 5:12 – Daily live interaction...

While on location at the Association of California School Administrators’ (ACSA) 2020 Annual Every Child Counts Symposium (ECC), host Sloan Simmons talked with Lozano Smith attorney and ECC presenter Jennifer Baldassari , and Nathan Moreno, Director of Special Education at Soledad Unified School District (as of July 1, 2020, Director of Special Education at Guadalupe Union School District), regard...

Host Sloan Simmons talks with Lozano Smith attorneys Marisa Lincoln and Carolyn Gemma about California’s Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP).  Their discussion covers increasingly important legal parameters and best practices for complying with the State’s UCP, and how the UCP interacts with best practices in investigations and other complaint processes, such as that before the U.S. Department of E...

In this episode, Jenell Van Bindsbergen and William P. Curley III, co-chairs of the firm’s Municipal Practice Group, talk about the unprecedented crush of affordable housing legislation enacted by the California Legislature in 2019.  The team discusses what the new laws mean for city governments, and how the legislation strikes at local control and other issues of importance to local municipalitie...

While on location at the California School Boards Association’s (CSBA) 2019 Annual Education Conference, host Sloan Simmons talks with CSBA General Counsel, Kathryn Meola, and one of Lozano Smith’s founding partners, Mike Smith , about critical legal issues impacting educational and other public agencies heading in 2020 and beyond. Show Notes & References 2:45  W. v. Tehachapi Unified School D...

Host Sloan Simmons talks with Lozano Smith partners Michelle Cannon and Gabriela Flowers, co-chairs of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group, about important new labor and employment laws passed in 2019 and how they will impact public agency employers in the new year.  Topics covered include employment classifications, probationary periods for classified public school employees, new...

Lozano Smith partners Mary Lerner and Anne Collins, co-chairs of the firm’s Governance Practice Group, talk about the basics that every newly elected member of a local agency governing body should know when assuming office.  This podcast isn’t just for newly electeds – it’s full of information for public officials, local agency staff, and members of the voting public too. Show Notes & Referenc...

Sloan Simmons sits down with Lozano Smith Special Education Practice Group Leaders Marcy Gutierrez and Aly Bivins, along with special education, 504, and student attorney Kyle Raney, to discuss this year’s legislative activity in the area of special education, as well to get their views on what school officials should be thinking about in the special education arena looking forward to 2020. Show N...

Lozano Smith attorneys Daniel Maruccia and Harold Freiman discuss what AB 48 could mean for school facilities funding if approved by the voters in March 2020. Show Notes & References 2:52  3-legged stool 4:49  Prop 47 (2002) 5:09  Prop 55 (2004) 5:30  Prop 1D (2006) 6:24  Prop 51 (2016) 10:42  AB 48 (2019) (Client News Brief 62 – October 2019) 13:25  School Facilities Programs (SFP) 17:0...

Sloan Simmons talks with Lozano Smith Student Practice Group Leaders Ruth Mendyk and Aimee Perry regarding this year’s legislative enactments impacting students and tips for school districts in preparing for compliance with these new laws. Show Notes & References 2:29 Senate Bill (SB) 543 (Sexual harassment complaint procedure poster) (Client News Brief 71: November 2019) 6:00  Assembly Bill (...

Following months of discussion regarding the impact that charter schools have had on traditional public schools, the Legislature has passed, and Governor Newsom has signed, two bills that will have wide-ranging impacts on California charter schools and their authorizers. Joining host Devon Lincoln to discuss these new laws, and what charter school authorizers need to know about these changes, are...