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 [...]
Section 10-19 of the School Code requires school board to annually prepare a calendar for the school term, specifying the opening and closing dates and providing a minimum term of at least 185 days, to ensure 176 days of actual pupil attendance. Governor Pritzker signed Senate Bill 28, now Public Act 101-0012, into law on [...]
The Prevailing Wage Act governs the rights and responsibilities of the Illinois Department of Labor, public bodies, and contractors as it relates to the wages paid to any workers employed in performing any public works by any public body. (820 ILCS 130/1 et seq.) Recent amendments to the Prevailing Wage Act became effective June 1, [...]
In April 2019, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court issued its decision in Mandigo v. Stolman, 2019 IL App (2d) 180466, a tax objection case involving the Truth in Taxation Law, which consists of sections 18-55 to 18-100 of the Property Tax Code. In Mandigo, the tax objectors sought a refund from several [...]
Last week, Whitt Law Senior Attorney Brian R. Bare joined a panel of other experienced attorneys to discuss a variety of unique and challenging situations regarding student discipline issues and students in guardianships. The panel addressed these issues from the perspective of the school districts as well as the students and their families. The seminar [...]
Are you wondering how to catch up with the attorneys from Whitt Law at this year’s Joint Annual Conference of IASB/IASA/Illinois ASBO? James Dougherty and Brian Bare will participate in a presentation on the new concussion protocols for students; Brittany Flaherty Theis will participate in a presentation on the current market and regulatory environment for [...]