Legal Digest Postscripts
Same great content, subscription free!Welcome to the new Legal Digest Postscripts! You don’t need to log-in or pay to read our new content. Our goal is still to provide you with a platform for extended conversation after our conferences adjourn. Legal Digest has always kept school administrators up-to-date on the latest school law developments and will continue to do so.
Dismissal Of Suit By School District Police Officers Upheld On Appeal
In Espinoza v. San Benito Consolidated Independent School District, No. 17-40839, 2018 WL 5018491 (5th Cir. Oct. 12, 2018), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the judgment in favor of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District in a case...
TEA Issues Police Interaction Curriculum
This month, the Texas Education Agency issued a new curriculum to high school students providing guidance on how to properly interact with law enforcement during traffic stops. The curriculum includes a 16 minute video (below) and a guidebook. It is a result of the...
Texas Attorney General Seeks To Intervene In Student Pledge Case
The Texas Attorney General has sought to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a student who was disciplined for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The suit was filed on behalf of India Landry after she was expelled from Windfern High School in Harris County....
Appeals Court Hears Argument In Case Regarding Special Education Spending In Texas
The Fifth Circuit heard oral argument this week in a case that could cost Texas more than $33 million in federal money meant to serve students with disabilities. On January 17, 2017, the United States Department of Education (“Department”) issued a proposed...
Arrest Of Middle School Students Violated The Fourth Amendment
On October 8, 2013, a group of seventh grade girls (twelve and thirteen-year-olds) were handcuffed, arrested, and transported in police vehicles from their middle school campus to the police station. An assistant principal had asked a school resource officer (“SRO”)...
Commissioner Issues Rules On Handling Unauthorized Persons On Campus
New Commissioner rules effective August 26, 2018, impact how school districts are required to handle unauthorized persons on campus. In 2017, the Texas Legislature amended Texas Education Code § 37.105 to require that the Commissioner of Education adopt rules...
TEA Names Justin Porter to Special Education Director
In late August, Texas Education Agency officials tapped Justin Porter, formerly the TEA's executive director of special populations, to serve as the agency's new statewide director of special education. Porter will be the first person to hold this position within TEA...
The Disabled Student Failed To Prove Discrimination By The District
When T.R. was a baby, he sustained massive brain damage from a tainted vaccine. Over a decade later, his guardian and trustee sued Keller Independent School District, where he was enrolled, for discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”)...
Federal Court Upholds Law Allowing Professors to Carry Guns at School
Last week, a federal court upheld the Texas Campus Carry law, which allows professors to carry concealed weapons onto college campuses. The ruling was the latest update in a lawsuit filed in 2015 by several professors at the University of Texas at Austin who oppose...
Teacher Assaulted By Student Did Not State Constitutional Violation
The high school physical science teacher also served as a lunchroom supervisor, and in that role tried to maintain order and discourage student fights. While the school district generally instructed teachers to intervene in fights if they felt they could do so safely,...