Legal Digest Newsletter Archives
Feature Article
CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING & OTHER INVALUABLE LESSONS I’VE LEARNED REPRESENTING TEXAS EDUCATORS
For more than eleven years, I represented public school employees, both at-will and contractual, in all manner of employment-related situations. As a staff attorney, and later the General Counsel of the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA), I represented employees in every level of the grievance process, contract nonrenewal hearings before the boards of trustees, contract [...]
Law Dawg
DEAR DAWG: I don’t know what lamebrain lawyer represents the Hardrock ISD, but I figure that you do, so I’m sending this correspondence to you. I hereby make a demand for $1,000,000 in actual damages, plus punitive damages in an amount so large that it cannot be calculated on my handheld device. We make this [...]
Legal Developments
Open Meetings Act CAN THE BOARD OF AN OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER SCHOOL MEET BY VIDEOCONFERENCE? Case citation: Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. GA-1079 (Sept. 12, 2014). Summary: The Commissioner of Education recently asked the Texas Attorney General to consider whether an open-enrollment charter school’s governing board could meet by videoconference call and still be in compliance with [...]
Legal Developments
Discrimination DID THE DISTRICT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THE EMPLOYEE ON THE BASIS OF HER RACE? Case citation: Smithv. Houston ISD, 2014 WL 4471386 (S.D. Tex. 2014) (unpublished). Summary: Scwyana Smith worked for the Houston Independent School District as a General Clerk III in the Procurement Services Department, and was an at-will employee. In May of 2011, Smith [...]
Legal Developments
Qualified Immunity WERE THE UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS ENTITLED TO QUALIFIED IMMUNITY? Case citation: Cutlerv. Stephen F. Austin State University, F.3d , 2014 WL 4548549 (5th Cir. 2014). Summary: In 2007, Christian Cutler became Director of Art Galleries at Stephen F. Austin State University, a public university located in Nacogdoches, Texas. The job required Cutler to oversee [...]
Legal Developments
Dismissal DID THE PARENT RAISE VALID CLAIMS ON BEHALF OF HER DAUGHTER? Case citation: Conely v. Georgetown ISD, 2014 WL 2727107 (W.D. Tex. 2014) (unpublished). Summary: Vallie Conely was the mother of a student in the Georgetown Independent School District, when she filed suit against the district alleging that her daughter was suffering from abuse [...]
Legal Developments
SPECIAL EDUCATION & DISABILITY LAW
Stay-Put WAS THE CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIRED TO RETAIN THE STUDENT PENDING THE DUE PROCESS HEARING? Case citation: SeashoreCharterSchoolsv. E.B., 2014 WL 4364863 (S.D. Tex. 2014) (unpublished). Summary: E.B. was a fifteen–year–old male student who has been diagnosed with severe autism, communication and cognitive delays, and who demonstrated unpredictable behavioral issues. He attended school at Seashore Charter [...]
Legal Developments
Discrimination DID THE STUDENTS STATE VALID DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS? Case citation: Fennell v. Marion ISD, 2014 WL 4274299 (W. D. Tex. 2014) (unpublished). Summary: Kyana, Kyra, and Kavin Fennell attended school in the Marion Independent School District, when they alleged that they were subjected to a hostile racial environment by students and staff. Joined by their [...]