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Originally appeared in the CAS Weekly Newsletter.
Written by attorney Thomas B. Mooney.

Dear Legal Mailbag:

I have long suspected that one of the students at my high school is a dealer and I would love to prove it. Yesterday, another student told me confidentially that he saw the student rolling a joint in the bathroom and I called the suspected student down to the office for a little questioning.

I started the conversation by asking him if he had anything illegal in his possession and he denied it in a particularly unconvincing way. So I told him to empty his pockets and, suddenly, he “remembered” that a friend asked him to hold a couple of joints, which he then produced.

Things were going so well that I was sorely tempted to ask him to hand over his cell phone so that I could check it for text messages about drug deals. But I chickened out and simply suspended him for possession of marijuana on school property. Now I am kicking myself, thinking that I blew an opportunity to put this miscreant away for good. Could I have searched the cell phone?

Thank you,
Having Second ThoughtsContinue Reading CAS Legal Mailbag Question of the Week – 4/27/2018

Originally appeared in the CAS Weekly Newsletter.
Written by attorney Thomas B. Mooney.

Dear Legal Mailbag:

Our school has a number of security cameras, which are a blessing and a curse. Sure, it is nice to be able to identify students who are up to no good. But the rules about whether and how we can use video footage are giving me a headache.

A case in point is the security camera video of a serious student altercation last week. The video is crystal clear in showing that one student started the fight and that the other student was just defending herself. Unfortunately, there are three other students in the frame who are watching the action. We sent out FERPA releases to the parents of all the students so that we could show the video at the expulsion hearing. But the mother of a student who was just a bystander called me to let me know that she would not be signing the release. I asked her why and she said that she didn’t want her daughter to get involved.

The hearing is next week and I need your help. Can I testify at the hearing as to what I saw on the video? Should I subpoena the video? Help!

Thank you,
Roll the TapeContinue Reading CAS Legal Mailbag Question of the Week – 3/27/2018

On November 29, 2017, the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection held a hearing on the use of computer algorithms and their impact on consumers.[1]

This was the latest in a series of recent efforts by a variety of organizations to explore and understand the ways in which computer algorithms are driving businesses’ and public agencies’ decision-making, and shaping the digital content we see online.[2]

In its simplest form, an algorithm is a mathematical formula, a series of steps for performing mathematical equations. The witness testimony and questions from the members of the Subcommittee highlighted a number of issues that businesses and government regulators are facing.Continue Reading Is Algorithmic Transparency the Next Regulatory Frontier in Data Privacy?

The requirements of the European Union (“EU”) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) come into effect on May 25, 2018.   These regulations promise to usher in sweeping changes to the way institutions, companies, and other organizations collect and handle the personal data of EU residents.

The GDPR is a holistic set of data privacy requirements that address the entire life cycle of collection, use, and disclosure of the “personal data” of EU residents. While we anticipate jurisdictional challenges that may someday limit the GDPR’s reach outside of the EU, the law as currently drafted purports to affect institutions of higher education, companies, and other organizations, such as boarding schools, worldwide. This means that the GDPR will affect not only institutions that do business with or operate inside of the EU, but will also affect institutions in the United States that processes the personal data of persons residing in the EU.[1]Continue Reading Is Your Institution Ready for GDPR?

Recent headlines make clear that sexual harassment is a serious problem in our society. It has also been a focus of attention on school campuses. Since the adoption of Title IX, colleges and universities, as well as other educational institutions, have taken steps to address complaints by students that they have been harassed or sexually assaulted; however, there is increasing push back regarding the procedures by which academic institutions adjudicate allegations of sexual misconduct, as well as on the training for those employees responsible for responding to allegations of inappropriate student conduct.
Continue Reading Title IX Procedures and The Need for Fairness to All Parties

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

Consider the fact that we now live in a digital age, with limitless information at our fingertips, accessible (to many of us) with a few…
Continue Reading Equal Access in the Digital Age: OCR Ramps Up Investigations into Website Accessibility

College CampusOn Thursday, in a speech by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy Devos, the Department announced that it would undertake a review of its current…
Continue Reading U.S. Department of Education Announces Intention to Review and Replace Title IX Regulations Concerning Sexual Harassment and Violence

In light of the Trump administration’s rescission of 2016 federal guidance from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education concerning school district obligations to transgender and gender nonconforming students, on February 23, 2017, Governor Dannel P. Malloy, together with Commissioner of Education Dianna R. Wentzell, issued clarifying guidance to Connecticut Superintendents of Schools reaffirming the protections afforded to such individuals under relevant Connecticut state law.  Along with this joint guidance, Governor Malloy issued Executive Order 56, directing the Connecticut State Department of Education (“SDE”) and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (“CHRO”) to consult and develop guidance for school districts concerning the best practices and legal requirements for protecting the rights of transgender students.

Following Executive Order 56, SDE recently developed two guidance documents summarizing civil rights protections and best practices for supporting gender nonconforming students.  The new guidance includes both a document entitled “Guidance on Civil Rights Protections and Supports for Transgender Students”, which provides an overview of legal requirements and best practices, and a Frequently Asked Questions document, which addresses discrete issues related to such topics as privacy, student records, and access to sex-segregated areas, such as bathrooms and locker rooms.  Further, the guidance urges districts to develop and implement professional development programming for staff based on the extensive information in both documents.

As noted, the guidance touches on several important and practical topics, including the construction and applicability of several laws, on-the-ground practical solutions and considerations, and administrative concerns.  We have summarized some of the main points below, and encourage further review of the guidance in its entirety.
Continue Reading CSDE Provides Guidance, FAQs on Civil Rights Protections and Supports for Transgender Students