In the past month, we have issued a number of resources on coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, as applicable to schools, colleges, and universities, from education-focused recommendations to issues implicating all employers, including educational ones (on workplace guidance, business continuity, […]
Category: Higher Education
From federal guidance addressing FERPA and the School Safety Commission Report and DOE withdrawal of discipline guidance to Illinois law requiring threat assessment teams and the creation of the Illinois Educational Safety and Security Center (ESSC), the educational legal world […]
Learn From These Three Confidentiality Mistakes Before Your Next Title IX Investigation
February 25, 2020
Originally posted on our Title IX Insights Blog As an Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigator, I was surprised by the number of times I saw the same issues again and again in Title IX sexual misconduct investigations. Nowhere was this more evident […]
The White House recently announced two initiatives aimed at addressing perceived discrimination in education against students and institutions based on religion. We address the first of those initiatives, relating to prayer in K-12 public schools, in a separate Franczek alert. […]
A large and growing source of property tax refunds in Cook County are generated when a Court reverses or vacates the sale of delinquent taxes. A recent Appellate Court decision provides a good overview of the tax sale process and […]
Is My Public School, Private School, or College or University Subject to the HIPAA Privacy Rule? Revised Federal Guidance Provides Answers
February 17, 2020
School leaders are often understandably confused as to which law applies to health- or medical-related records in schools: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) “Privacy Rule.” Whether […]
Should You OPEN Your Institution’s Doors to OCR: New Civil Rights Office Raises Questions
February 16, 2020
Originally posted on our Title IX Insights Blog The U.S. Department of Education has created a “new, proactive” civil rights compliance center within its Office for Civil Rights. The Department describes the Outreach, Prevention, Education and Non-discrimination, or OPEN, Center as an effort to “support[ ] school […]
Coronavirus: What Should Schools, Colleges, and Universities Do Now?
February 10, 2020
The risk of coronavirus may be lower than the flu, but with the numbers of cases and fatalities growing in China and a handful of cases in the United States, some are calling for schools, colleges, and universities to take […]