Whitt Law LLC continues to actively monitor the rapidly evolving circumstances surrounding COVID-19. In a blog post uploaded here Monday, Whitt Law LLC shared reputable resources for monitoring the development of COVID-19’s impact on schools and units of local government throughout Illinois. Please continue to monitor those resources and contact one of our attorneys if [...]
Over the past few weeks, Whitt Law LLC has been working with its clients to respond and adapt to the rapidly evolving impact of the novel coronavirus (called COVID-19). Public and private schools will continue to work closely with their legal counsel, the Illinois State Board of Education, county health departments, and units of local [...]
The Property Tax Relief Task Force has released its draft report to the Governor and General Assembly. In its report, the Property Tax Relief Task Force provides an introduction to property taxes generally, as well as a primer on the property tax cycle in Illinois. The report then describes the Property Tax Relief Task Force’s [...]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education have issued a December 2019 update to their “Joint Guidance on the Application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to Student Health Records” (the “Joint Guidance”). The Joint [...]
The 2019 IASB/IASA/IASBO Annual Conference kicks off this Friday in Chicago. There are several opportunities to connect with Whitt Law attorneys. On Friday, Whitt Law will host its annual reception at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. This is a great opportunity to connect with our clients, associates, and others whose work impacts school districts. This year, [...]
The Illinois Human Rights Act (the “Act”), 775 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq., is intended to secure for all individuals: freedom from unlawful discrimination; freedom from sexual harassment in employment and education; and public health, welfare, and safety; as well as to implement constitutional guarantees, to establish equal opportunity and affirmative action policies, and to protect [...]
Communicating and Investigating Allegations of Employee Misconduct - School Districts Have Discretion But Walk a Fine Line Whitt Law attorney Brian R. Bare was recently interviewed by the NPR station in Bloomington-Normal regarding school district investigations of employee misconduct and the tenured teacher dismissal process. Parents in that area are reacting to news that a [...]
Recently, Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 2719 into law, now Public Act 101-0180 (the “Act”). The Act creates Section 22-85 of the School Code. Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, the Act requires, as a prerequisite to receiving a high school diploma from a public high school, the parent or guardian of each student (or [...]
Recently, over 13,000 schools across the nation have been receiving a notification from a major education publishing and assessment service provider, that their student and employee data was inadvertently accessed in a data breach. The data in question appears to have been limited to student or employee names, student dates of birth, and email addresses. [...]
School districts throughout the Illinois are gearing up for the return of students and the start of a new school year. Although August signals the end of what is summer break for some; for others, the summer months are an opportunity to dig deeper into continuing education, catch up on legal and industry development, and [...]