MBM Education Alert: School Code Changes
Snow Day Guidance Is On The Way The Pennsylvania Department of Education is developing guidance and establishing a standard application for schools seeking to use flexible days. A key requirement is…
Communication Between Parents and School Officials: Can there be too much?
Special educators cannot deny the necessity of communication with parents and the benefits it brings to providing a special needs child a free appropriate public education (FAPE). To be certain,…
Case Update: Vulgarity, a Snap and no one Cheered
In the age of social media, can the right to free speech protect a cheerleader whose off-campus ‘snap’ smeared her squad? In an update to our October 2017 article on…
Special Education Series – Documentation
The viability of any organization is dependent upon properly documenting procedures so as to minimize risk and improve productivity and performance. In the special education world, procedures are an important…
Supreme Court Decision on Fair Share Fees
In a 5-4 decision this morning, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Petitioner in the case of Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal…
Special Education Series – Recycling
Recycling, documents and information, may take little effort but it could cause significant problems in a school district’s compliance with IDEA and its provision of FAPE. “Annual goals were repeated…
SCHOOL SAFETY PLANS NO LONGER AN OPEN SECRET?
Senate Bill 1078 co-sponsored by Senator Robert M. Tomlinson and Senator Mike Regan passed unanimously on April 17, 2018. This legislation seeks to amend Pennsylvania’s open meetings law to permit…
Special Education – Residency Dispute
Federal Court carves out special rule for special education residency disputes-when an issue of residency is intertwined with the receipt of special education services, the Office for Dispute Resolution hearing…
Termination Upheld Due to Illegal Drug Use
In a victory for School Districts, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently decided the case of Metz v. Bethlehem Area School District on January 4, 2018. In this case, a professional…
A compensatory education award does not create an unfettered entitlement to college tuition.
When things go wrong in special education and a student has not received the benefit of his/her educational program, the student is awarded compensatory education for the denial of a…