Two recent decisions, one out of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the other issued by the Public Access Counselor for the Illinois Attorney General (“PAC”) address policies concerning decorum at open meetings and the sufficiency of agenda descriptions, […]
Category: Education
This week, Governor Pritzker passed Public Act 104-0657, which requires school boards and charter schools to adopt and implement a wireless communication device policy by the beginning of the 2027-28 school year. The policy must, at a minimum, prohibit student […]
Franczek attorneys David J. Braun and James Petrungaro will host a webinar “Tenured Teacher Notices to Remedy – Assessing the New Legislation” on August 19th at 12 p.m. Sign up Here This presentation will focus on how the changes required […]
Illinois Supreme Court Clarifies School Districts’ Transportation Obligations To Nonpublic School Students
July 9, 2026
Takeaway: Important clarification regarding school districts’ transportation obligations under Section 29-4 of the School Code. The Court confirmed that a school district’s duty to nonpublic school students is generally limited to transportation available along a district’s existing regular bus routes. […]
Update on Recent Binding Opinions Issued by the Public Access Counselor Regarding the Open Meetings Act
June 10, 2026
The Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (“PAC”) recently issued several binding opinions regarding the Illinois Open Meetings Act (“OMA”). While more in-depth summaries are included below, takeaways from these decisions are as follows: 26-003: A public […]
Supreme Court Declines Review In Case Involving Teacher Fired Over Disruptive Facebook Posts
May 18, 2026
In August 2025, we reported on a victory for Township High School District 211 in former teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth’s case challenging her dismissal over divisive comments posted on her social media account. (School District Wins Appeal in Teacher’s First Amendment […]
The Nineteenth Edition of the Illinois School Law Survey authored by David J. Braun and published by the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) is now available for purchase exclusively through the IASB Bookstore. The Nineteenth Edition reflects legislation and court decisions […]
The DOJ issued regulations which were set to take effect in April 2026 requiring state and local government bodies – including public schools – to make their websites and mobile content accessible for people with disabilities. Late last month, the […]