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Anne H. Littlefield

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Anne represents schools in labor relations, employment and education law, including collective bargaining, personnel policies and practices, constitutional law, special education, student discipline, freedom of information, and education policies. She negotiates collective bargaining agreements on behalf of schools, including representation in interest arbitration proceedings as needed. Anne works with schools to address issues such as bullying and sexual harassment. She is often called upon to advise schools regarding professional boundaries and child abuse and neglect issues.  In her role as general counsel to boards of education around the state, Anne facilitates self-evaluation and goal-setting sessions. She also leads Shipman & Goodwin's model policy project, which provides policy support and guidance to a number of school districts.

Anne serves as General Counsel to Shipman & Goodwin. From 2010 through 2017, she was Co-Chair of the firm's School Law Practice Group, and from 2011 through 2017, she served on the firm's seven-member Management Committee.

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Join us once again for our annual public sector virtual seminar! On May 5th we will host a two-hour virtual program featuring a general…
Continue Reading Virtual Seminar | Legal Update for the Public Sector: 2022 Legal Trends

Less than one week after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its own landmark Title VII decision finding that the antidiscrimination statute prohibits discrimination against transgender or transitioning individuals even where an employer’s religious exercise may be substantially burdened.
Continue Reading Sixth Circuit: Title VII Prohibits Discrimination Based on Transgender and/or Transitioning Status

Anne Littlefield discusses steps to follow if a manifestation determination review reveals a substantial relationship between a student’s misbehavior and his or her disability. This article originally appeared in SpecialEdConnection®.

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A middle school student with ADHD is suspended for 12 days after getting into a fight in the cafeteria. The student’s IEP team conducts a manifestation determination review and concludes that the student’s problem behavior was a manifestation of his disability. What must the district do next?

Under the IDEA, if a student’s behavior is found to be unrelated to her disability, then the district may impose the same consequences as it would for a student without a disability. However, if an MDR reveals that the student’s misbehavior was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the student’s disability or was the direct result of the district’s failure to implement the student’s IEP, then the district must take the steps outlined below.

1. Examine the student’s behavior. Conduct a functional behavioral assessment (unless the district conducted an FBA before the behavior that resulted in the disciplinary removal) and implement a behavioral intervention plan for the student.

If a BIP has already been developed, review it and modify it as necessary to address the student’s behavior. 34 CFR 300.530 (f).

Closely examine the student’s environment and disability-related needs during the FBA, recommended Anne Littlefield, a school attorney with Shipman & Goodwin LLP in Hartford, Conn.

“We’re looking for what triggers the behavior — the conditions that lead to the behavioral incident,” she said. Such triggers might include time of day, unstructured settings, or certain activities, she said. Consider: Is the student trying to get out of a non-preferred activity? Is there a sensory issue at play?

Then, determine what strategies and supports can be put in place to prevent the student from engaging in those behaviors, Littlefield said. Update the behavioral goals and objectives section of the student’s IEP to reflect the new plan.
Continue Reading Anne Littlefield Quoted in Special Ed Connection Article “After the MDR: What to do if student’s misbehavior is manifestation of disability”

On September 28, 2017, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Commissioner of Education Dr. Dianna R. Wentzell issued a joint memorandum  to Connecticut superintendents of public schools outlining local educational agency (“LEA”) obligations to homeless youth displaced by natural disasters. It is anticipated that many school-age students will seek refuge in Connecticut in light of the devastation rendered in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria. Public school districts are uniquely poised to supply a degree of normalcy to such students through educational opportunities and referrals to other services.

Under Subtitle VII-B of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 11431-11435, (the “Act”), children and youth in homeless situations are afforded certain educational protections. Under the Act, “homeless children and youth” include individuals who “lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” and often includes those students displaced by disasters, including those students staying in accommodations set up by relief and community agencies. Such students displaced by disasters generally meet the Act’s definition and, as noted in the joint memorandum, such students will also qualify for free school meals, as well as health and other related services.Continue Reading In Aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Connecticut School Districts Reminded of Obligations to Displaced Puerto Rican Students