Recently the United States Department of Labor promulgated new regulations under the Family Medical Leave Act. School boards should review their policies to assure continued compliance with the FMLA. Noteworthy highlights from the new regulations include: (1) Military caregiver leave: Expands FMLA protections for family members caring for a covered service member with a serious […]
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (“COBRA”) provides for a temporary extension of employer-provided group health coverage, which is commonly referred to as COBRA continuation coverage. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Act”), which President Obama signed on February 17, 2009, includes several changes to COBRA continuation coverage that employers quickly need to address. The […]
Legislation winding its way through the General Assembly could mandate that local and regional boards of education employ automatic external defibrillators as soon as July 1, 2009. In fact, S.B. 981 as proposed requires schools to train personnel in defibrillator operation and in the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation at each school under the board’s jurisdiction. In addition, […]
Final revisions to the FERPA regulations were published December 9, 2008 in the Federal Register. Key changes include the following: “Attendance” at a school for purposes of protection under FERPA includes attendance in person or by correspondence or electronic means for purposes of students not able to be physically present in the classroom; A definition of […]
The October 31, 2008 memorandum issued by Anne Louise Thompson, Bureau Chief for Special Education, bears a second reading this time of year as districts prepare to submit excess cost grant applications for the spring of 2009. The memo, issued in the fall, caused shock waves in the special education community initially, as directors absorbed the […]
For our special education administrator friends, figuring out how to comply with the state and federal special education regulations and proving that to the Bureau of Special Education is no easy task. Just when you think you have all the rules figured out, the “interpreters” of the regulations manage to invent new requirements. So, a couple of tips culled […]
A decision recently issued by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in J.G. v. Douglas County School District, 108 LRP 71106 (9th Cir. 2008), calls into question the validity of relying on the 45-school-day evaluation timeline in the state special education regulations for the completion of an initial special education evaluation as “reasonable”. In this case, […]
Effective December 31, 2008, parents will be able to revoke consent for special education services and school districts will not be able to challenge the decision through mediation or due process. In their comments to the new regulations, United States Department of Education officials explained that they believe that the right to revoke consent for […]
In the case of Borden v. School District of the Township of East Brunswick, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a coach’s participation in a pre-game prayer with his football team violated the establishment clause under the endorsement test. The case involved prayer activities that had continued for a number of years. The coach would […]
In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (NY, VT, CT) formally joined its sister circuit courts in adopting a standard for determining when a school district has fulfilled its responsibility to educate a student with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE). In P. v. Newington Board of Education (10/9/08), […]
