In a recent decision, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC), which enforces the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA), found that a school district violated the OMA when it limited the public comment period of a school board meeting […]
The 180-page report of the Federal Commission on School Safety is out and garnering significant media attention. The U.S. Department of Education also announced this afternoon that, based on the Commission’s recommendation, it is withdrawing the 2014 Dear Colleague Letter on Nondiscriminatory Administration of […]
Updated February 27, 2020 With PERA’s full implementation on September 1, 2016, it is important to remember that all full-time probationary teachers who are first employed with a school district after a district’s PERA implementation date are subject to the new tenure […]
In a recent nonbinding letter, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor reportedly requested that public boards allow members of the public to speak about concerns with the conduct of specific board members. Boards and their members are not required to respond […]
As we mentioned in our article last month, the November 2018 version of the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Case Processing Manual (CPM), deleted a section that was added in March 2018 that allowed OCR to dismiss burdensome complaints by […]
Although months have passed since a new law addressing public education funding in Illinois was signed, confusion lingers over the impact of the law on an instructional day for students. Public Act 100-0465, or the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, […]
A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision addressed the question of whether School Resource Officers (“SROs”) employed by school districts are entitled to district-paid disability and health insurance benefits for “law enforcement officers” under the Public Employee Disability Act (“Disability Act”) […]
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) issued a revised version of its Notice of Procedural Safeguards for Parents/Guardians of Students with Disabilities reflecting a shortened time for response to a student records request. Schools must respond to a request for student […]
