Kasi Gifford and Carl Taylor speak at New Jersey School Boards Workshop: Best Practices for Managing Board Meetings
Cooper Levenson attorneys Kasi Gifford and Carl Taylor presented to a standing room only group on Wed. Oct. 25 at the New Jersey School Boards Workshop and Convention 2023. The session was described as: Best Practices for Managing Board Meetings This session will explore best practices to navigate board meetings and ensure they remain efficient […]
2022, New Rules?
To Our School Board Community: First, Happy New Year (we think)!! Though we hoped this year would start without Executive Orders, last minute guidance, and unclear recommendations, it seems that’s not going to be our reality. Second, we are still working on all of the new information and guidance, so everyone should try and remain patient and flexible […]
School Law Today Podcast: Special Education During COVID-19 with Amy Houck Elco
Special Education Issues during the Pandemic Almost overnight, with the onset of the pandemic, education issues and practices changed. One of the more challenging services for school districts to provide both virtually and with social distancing protocols is special education. Yet districts still have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to follow and other legal requirements. In […]
Fall School Sports “Return to Play” Update
We have been trying to anticipate and quickly respond to your questions during this time, given the unprecedented challenges presented to our Boards related to COVID-19 school closures. On July 10, 2020, NJSIAA released a memo titled, “Return to Play Update,” which contained an updated schedule for a delayed fall sports season. Presently, all fall […]
Guidance for NJ School Summer Learning Programs Announced
Guidance for Summer Learning Programs To Our School Board Community: We have been trying to anticipate and quickly respond to your questions during this time, given the unprecedented challenges presented to our Boards related to COVID-19 school closures. On June 12, 2020, Governor Murphy announced that the New Jersey Department of Education would be releasing guidance […]
NJDOE Issues Guidance Regarding Observations for Provisional and Nontenured Educators
By: Kasi M. Gifford, Esq. To Our School Board Community: We have been trying to anticipate and quickly respond to your questions during this time, given the unprecedented challenges presented to our Boards related to COVID-19 school closures. We have received many questions about observations and evaluations. On May 7, 2020, the New Jersey Department of […]
New Law Regarding Remote Learning and Paying Staff and Service Providers
by Kasi M. Gifford, Esq. To Our School Board Community: We have been trying to anticipate and quickly respond to your questions during this time, given the unprecedented challenges presented to our Boards as a result of COVID-19 and the related school closures. A couple of weeks ago we made you aware of pending legislation regarding the […]
Schools Need to “Ace” New Jersey’s New Employee Background Law
In a cautionary tale for all school districts in New Jersey, on August 21, 2018, a Federal court ruled a $600,000 settlement must be paid by that school district’s taxpayers and not its insurance carrier because the district failed to notify authorities and agreed not to tell potential future employers about a teacher’s resignation stemming […]
Some additional thoughts on the Kean decision – the Cooper Levenson “solution-centered” way…..
by: William S. Donio, Esq. By now we hope you’ve read our brief take on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s opinion in Kean Federation of Teachers v. Morell (A-84-16). While the outcome reflects what we think will be a more workable approach for our Boards on when to issue Rice notices, we wanted to add […]
RICE Notice change! Supreme Court reverses Appellate Division over-inclusive RICE notice decision
By Amy Houck Elco, Esq. and Yolanda N. Melville, Esq. Recently, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its decision in Kean Federation of Teachers v. Ada Morell (A-84-16) (078926). The Supreme Court overturned the Appellate Division’s decision requiring all employees to receive a RICE notice if their names appeared on a public body’s agenda. The […]