Edl 479 School Law & Ethics Class Notes

8/12/2019 Edl 479 School Law & Ethics Class Notes

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Day One - July 16, 2014

hypothetical case #1 - academic integrity policy

hypothetical case #2 - key logger/ cell phone in testing situation

General Advice from Mark Klein touch of the tism

In the vast majority of school cases in courts, most often they will defer to the school

because theytrust educators and they dont want to be the arbiter of what is right or

wrong.

Legal Terms I learned in the course

plaintiff - a person(s) or party who brings a case/suit/legal action against another in a

court of law

indemnity - security or protection against legal action or financial burden summary judgement- a decision made by a court of law without a full trial. The

judgement is made based on clearly one-sided facts in the case.

cross-motions - when both parties (plaintiff and defendant) make a motion

click wrap agreement - the online user agreement many websites put on their site and

users need to agree.

copyright - the same concept as a patent, but it protects an idea I.P - intellectual

property

injunction - an order from the court stopping an action or forcing them to do something

enjoining - suspended, stopped when one gets an injunction, the person receiving the

injunction is enjoined for example, if a court rules that the person playing loud musiccant, then the

guardian ad litem - court appointed legal counsel to represent infants, the unborn, or

incompetent. ex) Vergara Case

demurrer - is a pleadingin a lawsuitthat objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an

opposing party.

En banc - when all the judges of a court hear the case (team judging)

certiorari - a higher court orders a lower court to send all documents of a case so they

can review them

remand - to send back

mootness- there is no subject matter to decide classic case is bringing a case to court

if nothing has happened yet

stare decisis- courts will try to rely on previous cases decisions and apply these

rulings let the decision stand try to leave things decided and not de novo

dicta - court pontificating what might have happened if the case would have been

different

ripeness- the case is not ready...yet - ex) in Reese case, they could not bring it to court

until after the Board hearing
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPleading&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHBUJ40wrpTxkZxAhcwGVZuGTIFTwhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLawsuit&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHu_O6AMjB-d4pFzNkvSPQyD7thxAhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.keyghost.com%2Fkeylogger%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEi8paPumG65UrETqS-PmlG7XYh4ghttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FParty_(law)&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFNlVeNUBAFxAClF7rBtXUlPhW6oQhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLawsuit&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHu_O6AMjB-d4pFzNkvSPQyD7thxAhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPleading&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHBUJ40wrpTxkZxAhcwGVZuGTIFTwhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.keyghost.com%2Fkeylogger%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEi8paPumG65UrETqS-PmlG7XYh4g


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standing - the plaintiff must have a definitive interest in the controversy ex) parents need

to file for the students

CopyrightFair Use the life of the author plus 27 years

there is no percentage of determining fair use with partial use of work

Are you trying to avoid payment to the author or publisher?

1) purpose and character (commercial advantage) - Are they making money off of the work?

2) nature of copyrighted material - how are you using the work and is it the same thing as the

author

3) amount used

4) impact on the market value of the piece of work

Berne Convention- an international agreement (Switzerland 1896) protecting intellectual

property/copyright started by Viktor Hugo 167 countries have signed the agreement

Supreme Court / US Court System

current supreme court is 5-4 conservative Roberts the Chief Justic is becoming more of a

centrist Scalia/Thurmond conservative Kagen/Sotomayor liberal asked to 5,000 cases, but only

about 20-30 cases pick the highest need to be resolved


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Ethics for the School Administrator

Star Trek was essentially about ethical decisions (the prime directive). Captain Kirk is a goodexample of ethical leadership as he was not the expert of anything, but got all of them together

and made the ethical decisions that needed to be made.

ethics -

a branch of philosophy governing the conduct of an individual

there are personal and professional codes of ethics

Ethic of Justice (Rules)

- laws, regulations, policies fairness

- balances ethical issues such as due process and privacy rights (individual) against the need

for civility and the good of the majority (community)

- Is there a policy that relates to the matter, is it enforced equally or should it be?

- balancing the rights of the individual versus the community

Ethic of Critique (Power)

- power and influence (not only position but influence for good or bad)

- autocratic leader who makes the rules, who benefits who has the power who is silenced


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- marginalized groups are out of power challenges status quo, rules resists abuse of authority

Ethic of Care (People)

- personal connections and relationships compassion

- focuses on feelings and individual relationships

- How can we promote a nurturing, positive, organizational climate?

Ethic of Community (Group)

- community/organizational standards tension between democratic decisions of community

versus decisions made by the experts

- when do we form a committee and when do we just decide listening to parents and local

culture

It is good to have a mix of people on the admin team that are stronger in these areas or to have

people take these roles if they are not there. I can place people I work with in each of theseareas.

Why is ethics so important? It is the fundamental bridge to TRUST. And, without TRUST, you

cannot LEAD.

When you try to please everyone all the time, you will not get the trust. You have to learn to say

no and you will tick some people off at times.

He recommends 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) and The Speed of Trust (2006) by

Steven Covey.

Council Rock School District - live feed and archive for Board Meetings on Youtube.

Ethical Decision -After a very difficult year with a teacher in your school, you have counseled

her away from your school. The teacher has submitted her resignation in lieu of termination in

April. In May, you receive an email from the school head of a private school in the US requesting

a letter of reference for this teacher. What do you do?

What if, instead of the school heads invitation, the departing teacher asks you for a letter of

reference?

What if, instead of a request of you, the teacher approaches a colleague who wants to send a

letter of recommendation on school letterhead to this private school.

- letter of rec by colleague on school letterhead (Head controls message of the school)

- pass the trash

- egregious act (go after certification)
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UChkaM3sKzz_bKyOnyKSNl3ghttps://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stephencovey.com%2F7habits%2F7habits.php&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGjhyVdoE5rl7HlQJQcsKEFV20gpg


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- teacher fired for looking at real estate web sites

Background ChecksWe discussed this at length in the class. Council Rock requires an FBI Clearance, State Police

Clearance, and Public Welfare Check (Social Services - sometimes called a 51A in Mass)

Mark recommends only an FBI clearance for international hires. This pagehas information from

the State Department on how to get it.

http://www.jamievollmer.com/

public schools have to do so much more than before, every problem in society, the schools get

asked to solve these problems

in the beginning of the 60s, the federal government starts to get involved in education triggeredby the sputnik

The purpose of law can be channeling of social change

law - want money equity - order ex) a neighbor move his fence 5 feet

district court - majority of cases tried here

Contract Law

common law - the codification of what happened for years

defn - an enforceable promise legal agreement

create an obligation to do consideration - payment

pay by salary not paid by the hour this is for a teacher, not for clerical

need to be careful if you have a deadline and an offer comes in late, be careful - do not

letter of intent - both parties sign off on it -

Being tenured in a school means you need to define regarding incompetence, ineffectiveness,

immorality, etc.

Why tenure?

Hire a teacher based on credentials and interview, but you need to see a teacher in the

classroom for a period of time.

Teachers will have ups and downs in their 35-year career, especially with kids, death,

divorce, health, etc. Keep this in mind...
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To protect stability of civil servants due to political changes.

You get tenure between school districts within the state.

You can demonstrate bad teaching, applying the Danielson model, is the job of a

principal. Some teachers with good test scores, are not touchy, feely but they are good

with the content.

a species of property created by law, and granting to the holder basic due processrights before the property right can be revoked.

At universities in the USA, less people are going into education because it is harder to get jobs in

education, especially in the public schools. The implications of this will be a teacher shortage for

low-performing schools.

Employment and Employee Rights

14th Amendment - DUE PROCESS Came around at time of Reconstruction after the Civil War,

when USA was trying to stay together and integrate slaves and southern states into our society.Right to appeal, documentation, hearing, legal help, timeline..

Employee Rights are defined by:

contracts - teachers/school

statutes

case law

Teacher Rights and Responsibilities

A colleague with a great reputation in your school has revealed to you a relationship that he ishaving with a parent in the school. Your colleague is married as is the parent. He reveals to you

that he is ready to leave his wife and asks for your complete confidentiality.

A teacher needs to report to a supervisor. Principal in Pennsylvania makes a report to Social

Services and sends document to Superintendent.

Schools are a reporting agency, not an investigatory agency. Do you report?

Teacher Civil Rights

Substantive Rights:Speech - Political, Curricular, Symbolic

Association Freedom

Employee Speech is protected when that teacher speaks on a matter of Public Concernunless

the right to speech is outweighed by the schools need to avoid material disruption.


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in classroom- not much free speech need to follow the curriculum if a student asks your

opinion of something, you can go ahead and give them to it. dont pontificate, if you bring it up

dont bring up beliefs

restorative counseling

Kleins Views on Cameras

They act as a deterrent and they put large, old cameras in the reception area. In Council Rock

Schools District, they have 250 in elementary school and 450 in high schools. They are only in

common areas, like corridors, problem points like cafeteria, stairwells, etc. For most of the year,

they are background noise but those 5 instances they really help out. They have a 7-day storage

and all administrators have them on their iPad.

Supreme Court Cases

Tinker

We are in conservative Iowa in the 1960s and several students wants to wear blackarmbands in protest of Vietnam War. The principal got wind of this and prevented them

from coming to school and suspended.

The question is do students have rights of free speech at school if it is not disturbing to

the school environment? The court said that they do and they were silently wearing

armbands and if they were inciting a riot, then they would have not been allowed to do

this. The minority dissent said the court should not overrule the principal.

This is the landmark case in establishing constitutional rights for students and teachers

in school.

A modern day application would be school dress code. Courts can back enforcement of

a dress code if gangs are involved.

Morse (Principal) vs. Frederick (Student)

This took place 2002 Juneau, Alaska and the Olympic Torch (SLC) was passing through

the town. The school had the students line the streets when the torch went by the school

building. The student did not attend school and unfurled a banner with Bong Hits for

Jesus and he was suspended for less than 10 days. He wanted media attention and the

statement did not promote any cause.

The question is does the student have free speech rights, if it is not lewd or offensive.

Was there substantial disruption? No because there were 2000 cheering students.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school, because the banner disrupts the missionof the school. The banner mentions drugs and the school has a drug policy which gave

reasonable grounds for the principal to ask the students to take the banner down.

Safford versus Redding School District


8/13

This case was in Arizona, and the school conducted a strip search and the court ruled

there was not enough probable cause. They should have stopped at her pockets, waist

band, locker, bag, but dont have them take off clothes.

Dont strip search kids.

Searches expectation of privacy in schools

lockers - handled in Student -Parent Handbook

Council Rock uses trained sniffing dogs (private company, not police) for lockers and

cars ex) of Penn St. tailgate parents left alcohol in car

metal detectors not effective because kids put gun on window sill or in another area that

they can reach

a student has a 1 in 17 million chance in dying in public schools

Freedom of Speech

curricular speech (student newspaper, theatre) court ruled for school (Hazelwood) andthey have some discretion

Decorum- hats inside poor manners, but now that is gone kids can wear hats at Council Rock

School District

Private Schools have much more freedom regarding Due Process. They are under some

federal laws (race, sex) and more strict when schools are receiving federal funds.

Substantive Due Process

Goss vs. Lopez (1975)

suspension of 0 - 3 days - notice and opportunity to be heard suspension of 3 - 10 days - above and informal hearing

suspension of over 10 days - impartial tribunal, right to present evidence, public hearing,

counsel, hearing record/appeal

In high school at Castle Rock, about 20 times per year, a 5-10 day suspension is given a few

times per year, alcohol/marijuana then Board

It is always legal to look at a faculty members emails, and websites visited, especially if you

have parent concerns and informal visits.

When group work is going on, a principal should see an agenda or task.

waze - an app that gives you traffic and police locations which are crowd sourced

Exploring the Boundaries of the Internet - Student and School Conduct in Cyberspace:

Law and Practice


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Internet Law and Practice

Know your acceptable use policy, copyright law, laptop handbook, social media policy.

Internet communications are protected speech (First Amendment) Reno vs. ACLU 97

Dealing with children, schools need to filter and monitor internet schools are moving to

blocking cell phone 4G in certain areas, like bathrooms and lockerrooms

social media, cyber security, mobile devices internet access, cyber bullying, sexting and

inappropriate images

Council Rock brings in FBI public outreach for cyber security - they target middle level

(grades 7 and 8) - by the time students are in grade 11, they get tired of it and they know

how to deal with it.

With grade 7-8, it is their first experience with Facebook, phones, etc. FBI recommends

parents to check their Facebook pages daily

You also have to train the staff on this topic document and send to administrator

Acceptable Use

Make sure school has yearly clickwrap agreement for Acceptable Use

clear language that student and staff access to school/district computer network is NOT

CONFIDENTIAL and the district does monitor that use

prohibition of inappropriate use

only be interested in IP addresses teachers access while with students

Council Rock states not to stream music because it sucks bandwith

define inappropriate use well - nudity, sexual conduct, offensive, not suitable for minors,

lacks serious literary, artisitc, political, or scientific value

define hacking

prohibition - computer gaming - bandwidth (warcraft) - if you have a doubt, send it toadministrator -

clear statement on email

phone conversations are confidential and not recorded

process for changing passwords statement when access priorities end

When you get into Facebook and texting - there is a line of demarcation that usually

shows where it should have stopped

social media has surpassed email/phone for communication

school alternative to social media use - NING, etc.

Council Rock asks teachers to use NING - teachers cannot friend students, parents,

administrator

1:1 laptop program - Kleins philosophy is in an upper-middle class school district, it is not

feasible because it is very expensive, and most kids can get their own computers

- the promise of technology being a panacea for education and the flipped classroom model

does not work because they are teenagers!


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JS vs. Bethlehem, PA - 1998 PA Supreme Court

Student created website called Teacher Sux with crude, derogatory, violent, comments,

especially directed towards math teacher and principal. There was one Hitman section,

requesting donations to pay a hitman to kill the math teacher and show the teacher

decapitated.

Teacher took a Leave of Absence for 1 and 1/2 year for mental distress. The school had police and FBI investigate and the school stayed out of the investigation.

The court decided in favor of the school. The family sued because JS was expelled from

the school, claiming it was violation of First Amendment. There was enough disruption to

the learning environment to warrant it being on-campus speech instead of off-campus

speech.

The court ruled it was not a true threat because

Goss vs. Lopez - can suspend for three days to give time for the school to investigate and get

documentation together before expelling the student. This is the standard operation procedure

before getting rid of a student after the suspension, you call the parents in and have an informalhearing

Once you are in front of students - then the school has a vested interest in your personal life.

In some cases, a punch in the nose, a change in the balance of power, helps the situation at

times.

Student Teaching

Many young people cannot Planning - Delivering - Adjusting to Students do an internship

(student teaching is antiquated) - When you pay your university for student teaching - the cooperating teacher gets a

stipend/3-credits, etc.

like a residency for a doctor

1/3 to double more certified teachers in PA than there are jobs - very rich state in certified

teachers

Educating Students With Special Needs

IDEA, Gifted, and other Artifacts of US Law

IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Background - In the 1960s, a student with significant disability was rarely were seen in typical

public schools. A coalition of parents in Pennsylvania pushed legislators to eventually pass in

Public Law 94-142, which forced schools to take in special needs students and set up programs
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fidea.ed.gov%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF81VL7ErLP3JtuZI5nh98mdkAoqA


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for them, both physical and curriculum. Before this, the students were put in state institution

homes. There were a series of laws enacted through the 1970s up through the 2000s. This was

part of the civil rights movement in the USA.

This also addressed those students in the school with mild special needs, and in the 1960s, no

one really cared to identify and support those kinds of students. From 1972-1985, it was a toughstruggle to get schools to find trained people and set up program. The principle of CHILD FIND

requires a school district to identify ALL students eligible for services. A parents failure to

request identification or services does not relieve the school from Child Find. 2/3 of all school law

cases are dealing with IDEA.

Eligibilities Categories for IDEA- covers lots of different physical and mental disabilities,

except for ADD. For specific students with ADD, the right medicine takes care of this.

Process - public schools must find students with special needs

1) Identify/ Child Find - Response To Intervention (RtI)2) Evaluation (ER) - psychologists, a Multidisciplinary Evaluation Process (MDE) is a team of

different specialists (Reading Specialist, Classroom Teachers, Emotional, Speech Therapist,

Parents, Parent Advocates), a battery of tests there are specific timelines, documentation

parents have right for Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), which schools can take or

challenge and schools will do their own evaluatio

3) Program (IEP)

IEP (Individual Education Plan)

They are usually for one year Council Rock staggers these IEP production process

Special Ed teachers get 2 days off per year to write IEP difficult to get secondaryteachers free to be on the MDE team.

F.A.P.E. - Free Appropriate Public Education - you need to put a modicum of

programs (Chevrolet) and not full bore (Mercedes) programs the key term is showing

some progress and meaningful

Specially Designed Instruction

Present Levels - ongoing set of testing, sometimes tough to see hard data

Goals/Objectives

Special Considerations

Transition Services (what happens when graduates) - up until age 21, the state agencies

break down and there is not much for adults with special needs in their 20s, there are no

IEPs for students older than 21 years old

State and Local Assessments (what happens when standardized testing)

4) Placement (NOREP)

- you have to offer a continuum of services (mild to severe) and Least Restrictive

Environment (LRE) the regular classroom is the goal and all efforts and documention must be

done, especially with recalcitrant parents.


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- cost can never be a factor never discuss this with parents

Financial Implications- In Council Rock Schools, 18% of students are special needs and 30%

of the budget goes to them story of severely handicapped student,

Klein is seeing more medically fragile students, and there are more of them, for example withepipens for peanut allergies

Discipline of Special Needs Students - You can never suspend students for more than 10

days for students with I.E.Ps, a Manifestation Determination Hearing must be done before you

can suspend a student for example, an ADD student, sells ritalin/adderall to other students if it

is a manifestation of their disability, you cannot suspend the student if it is with

weapons/drugs/alcohol, the limit is 45 days (2007 exception)

Remedies- when the student is not making significant progress or parents are not happy with

schools program this goes to an official hearing (Due Process) which the court could order thestudent to go to a private school, special program, and they need to pay attorney/expert fees

Autism and the Autistic Child - In the USA it is an epidemic and schools are seeing more

autism. Is there something out there, or is it just better diagnosis? Council Rock sees a

relationship between in vitro and autism.

Confidentiality of Student Records- storage, dissemination, right to know, parent access,

press Who else needs to know? FERPA (Family Education and Right to Privacy Act)

Bullying and Disabilities Harassment - define bullying and try to

504 Plan- students not covered by IEP, these include a student with broken leg concussions

(sun glasses, no PE) large print for visually impaired epipen

Klein recommends to take a Special Education Law Course if you are going to practice in the

USA.

Religion in Public Schools

Lemon Test

This originated in the Lemon vs. Kurtzmancase of 1971 and asks if the governmental action has

a secular purpose, the action does not promote nor inhibit religion, and finally, does not lead to

excessive governmental entanglement with religion. Separation of Church and State

Use of Facilities by Religious Groups


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Private groups can use your facilities, and you cannot discriminate and they fit your facility use

policy. Teachers can do a religious group after school, but there needs to be a break from the

school day. The concept of Limited Open Forum either no one uses the facilities or anyone can

use them. Private schools are not under this requirement, and public schools would have a

harder time doing this. Council Rock makes $200,000 - $300,000 with facility rental. One group

takes care of the fields. A big money maker are swimming pools and they are busy from 5:30 AMto 10:00 PM in the evening.

Schools can get holiday for Easter and Yom Kippur, because with many students going to

Synagogue and 20% of students would be gone.

Intelligent Design curriculum cannot be taught, but it can be taught as a one-off lesson or based

on a student question. Deciding to teach the ID or Creationism is teaching a religious view.

Documents

Edl 479 School Law & Ethics Class Notes