LEGALFEAR

ED WATCH: Legal Fear in Schools

In Court: When Clothes Speak to More Than Fashion
Peter Applebome, New York Times, September 23, 2007

In New Jersey, two boys’ families sued their school to prevent their suspensions for wearing buttons depicting Hitler Youth (as a protest against the school’s uniform policy).  Judge Joseph Greenaway ruled in favor of the boys’ parents, opining that the buttons were “…protected speech, in that wearing them did not ‘materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school.’”  Because of this case, and others reviewed in Peter Applebome’s article in the New York Times, school administrators and teachers have to manage their classrooms and hallways knowing that any student or parent who isn’t happy with their decision can force costly – and unquestionably disruptive – court proceedings on them. As Applebome quipped ironically in describing a similar case, “He and his parents, like any self-respecting family, went to court.” He also notes that, despite stepping in, courts are not providing a reliable standard for “acceptable attire and behavior” and that the “ample array of similar cases raises more questions…than it answers.”  What could possibly be more disruptive to the ‘work and discipline’ of a school than constant second-guessing and legal intervention?  » article

Yearbook Photo Nixed Because of Flower
Karen Lovett, Nashua Telegraph, September 10, 2007

Merrimack High School in New Hampshire recently cut one senior’s yearbook photo because she posed with a flower, which violates the school’s policy of “no hats or no props” in yearbook photos—a policy created to avoid potential lawsuits. Merrimack Principal Philip Johnson explained that he instituted the policy last year after a nationally-publicized case, in which a then-Londonderry High School student argued that his first amendment rights were violated when his school’s yearbook staff refused to publish a photo of him holding a gun: “Anytime you see high-profile legal issues, it gives cause for you to review, and amend if necessary, your policies, and we thought that this decision would be in everyone’s best interest.” The photographer who took the Merrimack student’s nixed photo said, “I totally understand that schools have right to dictate policy…I think the issue is people need to be made aware that we’ve thrown common sense out the window. When we’re restricting kids from holding a stupid flower in their hand, it’s kind of silly, quite frankly.” article »

Legislatures Place Educators at Risk by Discontinuing Liability Insurance
Benjamin Fryson, Associated Content, August 9, 2007

Florida teachers have an even greater reason to fear lawsuits from their students: they just lost their liability insurance from the state. In the midst of ever-increasing lawsuits against teachers, the Professional Educators Network (PEN), a teacher’s advocate group, expressed their concern for this withdrawal:  “With children especially taunting teachers that their parents can sue them whenever the educator does something they do not like, it is imperative that the educators have a way to protect themselves.” The lack of liability insurance for educators is a problem nationwide, yet “educators dedicated to the academic and personal growth of all its students should not have to deal with the worries of [losing] their career because they are trying to do their job.” According to PEN, the Florida legislature did not make clear its intentions to drop liability insurance for educators. article »

Weakened Public Education and Student “Rights”
Marion Edwyn Harrison, National Ledger, June 14, 2007

Noting the “weakened effectiveness of our public education across the country,” Marion Edwyn Harrison, president of the Free Congress Foundation, argues that the “diversion of time, attention and money from education to litigation is appalling.”  “Undoubtedly one of the contributing factors to ineffective public education is the extent to which students are accorded ‘rights,’” Harrison writes in the National Ledger. “The exercise of many of those rights, in turn, reduces discipline, diverts attention (including instructors’ and students’ time) and/or runs up costs of public education to taxpayers.” Harrison also notes that “almost 100 disciplinary cases annually are reaching (almost entirely State) appellate courts.” “No wonder,” she concludes, “that educational achievement is shaky, [and] juvenile and post-juvenile delinquency and crime, gang and otherwise, [are] on the rise. article »

Students Hurt at School Can Sue Minneapolis District, State Supreme Court Rules
Shannon Prather, Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN), May 31, 2007

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that Minneapolis schools can no longer rely upon “a little-known 1969 law that grants schools immunity from liability if they can't buy insurance at a rate of $1.50 per student.”  Shannon Prather of the Pioneer Press explains that “[t]he immunity meant parents whose children get hurt on the playground or anywhere else at a Minneapolis public school wouldn't get very far if they sued to recoup medical bills.”  The issue before the court was whether the law was still in effect.  The case was initiated by the parents of two girls who ran into and injured one another in November 2001 “during a game of ’flashlight tag.’”  article »

Court Upholds Suspension of Student in Video Case
William Yardley, New York Times, May 23, 2007

“[I]t is not every day a federal judge weighs in on individual cases of school discipline,” but that is just what happened at the United States District Court in Seattle in a case involving sexual harassment of a teacher, reports William Yardley of the New York Times.  The student, Gregory Requa, was suspended for 40 days after editing a secret video mocking an English teacher’s “hygiene” and “captur[ing] the teacher at unbecoming angles.” Although the school has offered to let Requa attend graduation ceremonies “if he completes a research paper on sexual harassment that would cut the suspension in half,” Requa took a “freedom of speech claim to federal court last week to seek an injunction.” Judge Marsha J. Pechman upheld the suspension, calling the video “lewd and offensive and devoid of political or critical comment.”  The teacher has retired since the incident. article » 

Supreme Court is Pondering First Amendment Rights
Reynolds Holding, Time, May 10, 2007

Reynolds Holding of Time reports on Morse v. Frederick, the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case, noting that “[w]hile lawsuits may strengthen student rights, they come at a high cost for schools--in diminished authority as well as dollars.”  “That the bong-hits case… has come before the court is a sign of the times. An unprecedented wave of similar suits has clogged the lower courts in recent years.” Holding cites Common Good’s 2004 Harris Poll, which found that “82% of public school teachers and 77% of principals practice ‘defensive teaching’ like ignoring misbehavior so they can avoid lawsuits.” Common Good Education Advisory Board member Richard Arum is also quoted: “We used to defer to the professional discretion of teachers and administrators.  Now our schools are run increasingly by lawyers and judges, and that has profound consequences in undermining the moral authority of school discipline."  Francisco Negrón, general counsel of the National School Boards Association, agreed, saying, “What these cases do is have a chilling effect on [the ability of] administrators and teachers to make the decisions they need to make.” article »

Teacher in Leaf Collection Lawsuit Expresses Relief
Jessica M. Karmasek, Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia), May 9, 2007

A judge has dismissed a West Virginia high school student’s suit over a failing grade on a late “leaf project,” and educators are praising the responsible restoration of their authority.  “Circuit Judge Duke Bloom on Tuesday threw out the lawsuit,” Jessica M. Karmasek of the Charleston Daily Mail reports, “filed against Sissonville High School teacher Jane Schultz and the Kanawha County school board by the parents of sophomore Lindsay Hay, who was given a failing grade on a leaf project.” Schultz expressed relief over the decision and said: “I am thankful for Judge Bloom's decision to dismiss this case, not just on my behalf, but on the behalf of all teachers…We cannot be effective in the classroom while harboring paranoia about parents second-guessing grades or every mark we make on a paper.”  Judge Bloom found that teacher’s ability to give grades was protected by state law.  “It is not, in this Court’s view,” he wrote in his decision, “a proper role for a court to assess whether a particular penalty imposed for turning in schoolwork late is too harsh.” article »

Florida Student Who Mooned Teacher Sues
Associated Press, April 4, 2007

An 18-year-old Florida student is suing his school district over his punishment for mooning a teacher, even after admitting that he did the deed. “A high school senior acknowledges he went too far when he mooned a teacher,” the Associated Press reports. “But he thinks the decision of school officials… was too harsh, so his family is suing.”  The lawsuit states that “Tyler Tillung, 18, mooned a teacher ‘suddenly and without thinking about the consequences’” after the “teacher had declined to let him into a Feb. 21 school lip sync show that was full.” Tillung was suspended for six days and reassigned to a new school. The school board’s attorney, Jim Robinson, said the board is “confident in the administration's position.” article »

Leaf Project Student Has Her Day in Court
Jessica M. Karmasek, Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia), March 30, 2007

Lawyers held their first courtroom argument in the case of the student suing her school district over a failing grade on a late “leaf project” assignment, Jessica M. Karmasek of the Charleston Daily Mail reports.  “According to the suit, [student Lindsay Hay] was given a failing grade for not turning in a leaf project in her advanced biology class on the date it was due. The lawsuit says the girl was out of school that day on an approved student council trip to Jackson's Mill.”  At issue in the hearing was a state law that prohibits any person from requiring a teacher to change a student's grade. The lawyer representing the school district argued the law existed because, “in the past, teachers had been pressured into changing grades” and “felt they shouldn't have someone ‘looking over their shoulders.’”  Judge Duke Bloom, presiding over the case, told the student’s lawyer that he believed “you're asking the court ... to be the superintendent for every grade in Kanawha County.”  Defending their choice to sue, the parents of the student called the teacher’s decision to award their child half-credit “an arbitrary and capricious act.” article »

Modern-Day 3 R's: Rules, Rules, Rules
Ian Shapira, Washington Post, March 11, 2007

The continually growing legal requirements on school administrators has led to constantly expanding – and frustrating -- prohibitions on student behavior, reports Ian Shapira on the front page of the Washington Post.  “A culture of control has Washington area campuses in an ever-tightening grip, many students say, extending beyond the long-standing restrictions on provocative clothing, cellphone use and class-time bathroom visits.”  Examples of the stringent and perplexing rules include one high school at which “students are banned from listening to iPods at lunch” but can watch “‘The Maury Show’ on the television hanging from the cafeteria ceiling.”  School officials point to “legal threats” as one of the primary reasons why “they are more risk-averse than ever.”  Making matters worse, “the federal No Child Left Behind law holds schools accountable for not only performance but also safety, requiring states to report the number of ‘persistently dangerous’ schools." article »

Judge Tosses Lawsuit by Suspended Alexander Athlete
Jim Phillips, Athens News (OH), February 12, 2007

Affirming the authority of educators to discipline students as they see fit, Athens County (OH) Common Pleas Judge Michael Ward recently dismissed the complaint of an Alexander High School student that claims that “the school denied him due process when it benched him for an alleged alcohol offense.”  The student, a member of the school’s varsity basketball team, was suspended for five games by the Alexander School Board “after school officials heard that some high-school students had gone to an off-campus party where alcohol was served.”  The student admitted to being in possession of alcohol at the party, but denied imbibing any – “a claim disputed by at least one student witness.”  After ruling that the school’s “athletic policy complies with Ohio law, and that the district's suspension of [the student] complied with school policy,” Judge Ward writes in his decision: “‘The court further finds that Ohio law favors a school exercising its authority regarding discipline in extracurricular activities and that such discipline should be left with the schools and not the courts ….’” article »

Lawsuit Over School Shirts Is Getting to Be Attiresome
Chicago Sun-Times, January 12, 2007

“Every now and then someone says something that makes you want to stand up and shout, Amen!,” reads an editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times.  The someone that brought the paper to its feet in this instance is 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner who, at a recent federal hearing, asked: “‘Why do people bring lawsuits over such trivialities?’”  The matter before Judge Posner and the court was whether Chicago’s Beaubien School had violated a group of gifted students First Amendment rights by disciplining them for wearing T-shirts that the school feared “could stir up trouble among the regular students.”  (In 2003, the school held a contest to design an eighth-grade T-shirt.  Despite their design losing, the gifted students decided to make the shirts on their own and wear them to school.  In response, the school’s principal “confin[ed] [the students] to one classroom for two weeks and deprive[ed] them of science and computer labs and after-school programs.”)  The Sun-Times writes: “The Chicago school district and the kids' parents should stop this silliness now.  They should sit down and hammer out a settlement, perhaps dropping the suit and the demand for damages in exchange for the school ameliorating to a significant degree the disciplinary record.  One of the kids is quoted as saying, ‘If we stop now, it'll be four years of nothing.’  We've got news for him: Most of us think it's already been four years of nothing.” article »

Should Parents Fear Mentors?
Stephen Wallace, Charlotte Observer, January 7, 2007

In a piece for the Charlotte Observer, psychologist Stephen Wallace laments that “the age-old practice of mentoring teens” may be on the decline due, in part, to liability concerns.  He writes that “teens able to identify at least one influential mentor in their life – such as a teacher, coach, counselor or neighbor – report a higher sense of self and are more likely to take positive risks that promote overall development and mental health,” but that – due partly to safety concerns – “53 percent of teens say their parents discourage them from participating in organizations or activities where such mentoring might occur.”  Wallace adds, however, that the “chilling” of “important relationships” between mentors and teens “isn’t coming just from parents.”  “Organizations fearing legal liability for misconduct by employees,” he relates, “are developing standards that limit the contact that may make mentoring such an effective tool.  For example, guidelines recommended by the National Education Association describe as inappropriate professional behavior ‘taking students to lunch, outside social activities or receiving and writing personal notes.’” article »

Students Dodge Tag Ban
Chrissie Thompson, Washington Times, October 19, 2006

The recent ban on playing tag during recess at Willett Elementary in Attleboro, MA, has drawn the criticism of current and past IPA/USA representatives.  In an article in the Washington Times, Audrey Skrupskelis, the current board president of IPA/USA, “a nongovernmental organization dedicated to children's right to play,” argues: “‘It’s important for kids to be able to take some risks because if we try to protect them from every available risk, they don’t learn coping mechanisms ….  In terms of large-muscle coordination and movement, these are the games that burn calories in terms of the weight kids are putting on ….  Of course, we want to provide a safe environment for our kids, but no one grew up without a scraped knee.’”  Rhonda Clements, IPA/USA’s former president, agrees, “call[ing] the movement to ban tag ‘absolutely ridiculous.’”  “’We’re creating a generation of children that are no longer decision-makers as to their own play activities,’” she continues.  “‘You're basically telling children that we don’t trust their ability to play and not lose their temper.’”  Ms. Clements, now an education professor at Manhattanville College in New York, was a panelist at Common Good’s Value of Play conference in May 2006. article »

School-trips Confined to School Grounds Due to Fears of Legal Action
Evening Standard, November 28, 2006

"Thousands of children are being forced to take 'trips' within their own school grounds because teachers are so scared of being sued," the Evening Standard of London, England reports.  A “government-backed study has revealed” that children “are increasingly failing to get beyond the school gates on outdoor education jaunts amid fears of litigation should anything go wrong and spiralling red tape. Instead, a class going to visit the school vegetable patch or looking for wildlife on the playing fields would be counted as an outdoor trip.”  The report “surveyed 3,500 headteachers [principals] and teachers in primary secondary and special schools across England.”  As Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said, school trips “bring meaning to a curriculum that has had the joy knocked out of it by the excessive regime of examination and testing… it is crucial that the Secretary of State addresses both the excessive bureaucracy and the culture of litigation which have resulted in a dramatic reduction in out-of-school trips and activities over the years.”  In response to the report, England’s Education Secretary Alan Johnson “launched a consultation on new ‘no-nonsense’ guidance for schools to help tackle concerns about litigation.” article »

Ban on Tag, Other Activities Makes Anti-Obesity Effort Ring Hollow
Portland Press Herald, October 24, 2006

The Portland Press Herald directly links the growing trend to ban tag and other contact games during recess and America’s childhood obesity problem.  Discussing Willett Elementary’s decision to ban tag in particular, the paper writes: “Reportedly, the fear of injury (and, implicitly, the legal liability that would impose on the school systems) is the reason for the ban.  The school's concerns may be real enough, but they nonetheless comprise a sad commentary on our society – and our efforts to combat obesity in children.  It's hard to ban exercise on the one hand and complain about overweight kids on the other, but that's just exactly what this decision has accomplished.”  Not only do recess games “help[ ] kids avoid putting on weight,” the paper argues, but they “keep kids' minds going” in the classroom as well by allowing them to expend pent-up energy.  “Letting worries about [bumps and bruises] keep kids from active play is a mistake,” the paper concludes, “and a big one, too.” 

Schools Ruling Out Fun on Playground, Critics Say
Maria Sacchetti, Boston Globe, October 23, 2006

Reporting on the "uproar" caused by Willett Elementary School officials' recent decision to enforce a ban on tag during recess, Maria Sacchetti of the Boston Globe writes that the nationwide reaction "reflects the passionate feelings about child’s play." "In the past 20 years," she relates, "school systems in the Bay State and around the nation have increasingly imposed restrictions on play, determined to prevent serious injury and lawsuits that can follow an accident. Several Massachusetts schools have been sued by parents whose children were injured at school in recent years.” She quotes Common Good Executive Director Franklin H. Stone who argues that the “regulation of play,” which, in part, has reduced the size and scope of slides and swings, “ha[s] become too strict over the past two decades.” “‘I'll even defend the see-saw,’” says Ms. Stone. "‘I'll tell you what you learn from the see-saw. You learn about working with other people.’” The president of the Hanlon Elementary School parent-teacher organization, John Cummings, would probably agree. He states, commenting on the 29 playground rules listed in the Westwood, MA’s school handbook: "‘It's a shame that we've come to the point where you have to put all these rules down when kids play …. I think they should let kids fall down, get up, dust themselves off, and get right back on.'" article »

Common Sense in Recess
News-Journal (Daytona Beach, FL), October 23, 2006

The News-Journal (Daytona Beach, FL) looks at the growing trend of schools banning contact sports during recess and argues: “There's a new bully in schools: overregulation.” “[I]n a litigious climate,” the paper explains, “schools try to limit claims as much as possible. Eliminating some risk of injury on the playground translates into reduced claims. And it diminishes playground supervisors' look-out duties. But pupils aren't actuarial variables. They're in school to learn, and some of their learning takes place on the playground. Schools aren't doing their students favors by overly controlling their environment.” The paper lauds the experimental effort of one local middle school principal who is “go[ing] against the trend of cutting back on less structured activities” and, for two periods every Wednesday, is offering her students the opportunity to engage in such activities as arts and crafts, poetry writing, checkers – and touch football. “The idea,” the paper writes,”[i]s to add to pupils' learning experiences, even if those entail activities not everyone has aptitude for: If touch football is exclusionary or too rough for some, it is also more inclusionary to those who might not feel so included in, say, algebra class.”

Two More Schools Ban Tag
MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, MA) and KGWN-TV (Cheyenne, WY), October 20, 2006

You can add McCarthy Elementary in Framingham, MA, and Freedom Elementary in Cheyenne, WY, to the list of schools that have banned tag, "the age-old schoolyard game." Students at McCarthy, MetroWest Daily News reports, have "invent[ed] their own no-contact version of the game to get around a rule requiring that they do not touch each other." At Freedom, administrators “no longer allow[ ] children to play [tag] because they say the game may be too dangerous for the kids." And, as KGWN-TV explains, "schools all across the country are moving in this direction as schools take measures to limit their liability for injuries sustained on the playground." MetroWest article »; KGWN-TV coverage »

Students Dodge Tag Ban
Chrissie Thompson, Washington Times, October 19, 2006

The recent ban on playing tag during recess at Willett Elementary in Attleboro, MA, has drawn the criticism of current and past IPA/USA representatives.  In an article in the Washington Times, Audrey Skrupskelis, the current board president of IPA/USA, “a nongovernmental organization dedicated to children's right to play,” argues: “‘It’s important for kids to be able to take some risks because if we try to protect them from every available risk, they don’t learn coping mechanisms ….  In terms of large-muscle coordination and movement, these are the games that burn calories in terms of the weight kids are putting on ….  Of course, we want to provide a safe environment for our kids, but no one grew up without a scraped knee.’”  Rhonda Clements, IPA/USA’s former president, agrees, “call[ing] the movement to ban tag ‘absolutely ridiculous.’”  “’We’re creating a generation of children that are no longer decision-makers as to their own play activities,’” she continues.  “‘You're basically telling children that we don’t trust their ability to play and not lose their temper.’”  Ms. Clements, now an education professor at Manhattanville College in New York, was a panelist at Common Good’s Value of Play conference in May 2006. article »

Not It! Mass. Elementary School Bans Tag
Associated Press, October 18, 2006

“[F]or fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable,” administrators at Willett Elementary School in Attleboro, MA, “have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess.”  And as The Associated Press relates, this is just the latest rule to affect school recess.  A few years back, Attleboro school officials “took aim at dodgeball … saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.”  Bans on tag have also been recently put into effect at elementary schools in Cheyenne, WY, and Spokane, WA.  And outside Charleston, SC, a school has banned “all unsupervised contact sports.”  At least one Willett Elementary parent is unhappy with the school’s decision.  Debbie Laferriere tells the AP: “‘I think that it’s unfortunate that kids’ lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they’ll never develop on their own ….  Playing tag is just part of being a kid.’”

Rethinking Recess
Anne Marie Chaker, Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2006

Anne Marie Chaker of the Wall Street Journal reports on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ report, “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds,” by focusing on school recess, asking: “Does recess deserve to get a reprieve?”  With federal statistics showing that less than a third of children in grades one through six get more than 15 minutes of recess a day, she writes: “Schools have been trimming fixed periods of unstructured playtime for years, citing mounting pressure from federal-testing requirements and concerns over playground accidents that can lead to lawsuits.  Now, national groups representing parents and pediatricians are stepping in to champion more playtime, as a growing body of research points to the benefits of the kind of free play that can't be found in gym class.”  One superintendent Chaker spoke to, who eliminated morning recess from the elementary schools in his district due to testing concerns, “encourages teachers and students to incorporate more physical activity into regular class periods” in order to compensate for the lost playtime.  But pediatrician Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, the lead author of the AAP report, argues that there is a difference between physical activity and play.  He states: "‘Play allows a creative outlet for children to build confidence, master their environment and try things out on their own ….  It's so important to children's resiliency that I am seriously worried if toe touches are replacing that.’"  Studies also show that the play students engage in during recess actually boosts their school performance.  Chaker writes: “One Atlanta-area study … observed fourth-grade classes on days with and without 20-minute recess breaks.  Researchers found that after the breaks, students on the whole were more focused and less fidgety.”  Yet, as Chaker explains: “States generally require schools to teach a certain amount of time per day or hours per year.  Recess usually doesn't get counted as instructional time, so school administrators can more easily make a case for nixing it.  Also, liability and lawsuit concerns over accidents, fights and bullying give schools additional incentives to eliminate it ….”  article »

It's Time to Curb 'Claim Culture' in Our Schools
Kathryn Torney, Belfast Telegraph, October 3, 2006

The Belfast Telegraph reports that there is a growing sentiment in Northern Ireland that “[a]ction must be taken to curb the compensation culture afflicting [the province’s] schools.”  Because of “[f]ear of legal action or being accused of inappropriate behaviour,” the paper relates that, “[i]n some schools, school trips have been curtailed or banned and in others parents now have to give permission for teachers to put plasters on pupils if they hurt themselves.”  And, in at least one school, “‘health and safety rules’” prohibit children from running on the school’s playground.  Sammy Wilson, a former teacher and current education spokesman for Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, states, speaking of the current “‘mad’” situation in the province’s schools: “‘In the past if youngsters fell or were sad, teachers would give them a hug – just as a parent would do – but now school staff are afraid of any physical contact with pupils at all. …  It also takes away a lot of the fun that young people have in school if they cannot take part in rough and tumble in the playground.  Inevitably children will fall at times and may skin their knees or elbows but that is part of growing up.’”  He believes that “courts and others” have “unrealistic expectations … about just how much protection you can give to children.”  “‘I think the courts need to take a more common sense approach,’” he argues.  “‘A few cases knocked back may create a more realistic attitude.’” 

Homerooms Again a Topic of Discussion for Dolgeville BOE
Rob Juteau, Evening Times, September 20, 2006

Liability concerns have prevented seventh and eighth grade students at James A. Green High School in Dolgeville, NY, from beginning their schooldays with homerooms.  Dolgeville’s Board of Education approved their creation in July, and the school’s principal, James Donnelly, planned on beginning the year with them in place, but, as the Evening Times reports, things changed when Donnelly “received a letter from the Dolgeville Teachers’ Association asking if the administration and district would free the teachers from liability if something was to occur when they were not in their classroom, or when the students were unattended.”  Donnelly tells the paper: “‘When I received the letter I was advised to proceed as we did in the past … .  As the system was set up, even with a teacher 10 feet away, there was a liability if a teacher was not in every room.’”

School Playground to Be Built
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, August 23, 2006

Worcester’s Telegram & Gazette reports: “Linda Marie Hultgren, co-chairman of the Vernon Hill School Parent-Teacher Organization, has a relatively modest idea that would set her school apart from the majority of the city’s elementaries: She’d like to build a playground.”  All of Worcester’s elementary schools, the paper continues, “have areas for kids to run around or play games during recess” – but “most of the 33 elementaries don’t have swings or a slide or a jungle gym or other permanent equipment.”  “‘We don’t do playgrounds,’” says school plant manager, Eugene Olearczyk.  The reason?  The paper cites three: Playground equipment’s need for maintenance, its attractiveness to vandals, and – not surprisingly – that it “can be a liability.”  article »

High School Coaches Work on Protection
Matt Wixon, Dallas Morning News, July 31, 2006

Nearly 100 coaches and athletic directors kicked off the 74th annual Texas High School Coaches Convention and Coaching School by attending a legal workshop?  The reason?  “Because it's ‘the age of litigation,’” said Pat O'Neal, the athletic director at El Paso Ysleta ISD.  “’And a lot of things we could do 10 years ago,’ he said, ‘if we did them now, we would get in trouble.’”  For three hours, lawyers briefed coaches on such topics as “coach-directed prayer, Title IX and disciplining players,” as well as on a section of the Texas Education Code that – because they are employees of the government – provides them some immunity.  "‘Mere negligence or gross negligence are not enough for liability,’" attorney and former baseball coach Jim Raup told the attendees.  The workshop also covered interactions with parents, “and how a student has no legal right to be on a team, play a particular position or play at all.” article »

Litigation Weakens the United States
Editorial, Charleston Daily Mail, April 7, 2006

In a recent editorial on the need for legal reform, the Charleston Daily Mail relates that a recent graduate of Sissonville High School in West Virginia “has sued the Kanawha County Board of Education for failing to prepare him for life.”  The student, who contends that he graduated “reading at only a third-grade level,” is seeking compensation for the loss of future earnings and $1 million in punitive damages.  “This is life in litigious America,” the editorial states, “where everyone has ‘rights,’ which may be converted into millions if violated, and fewer and fewer people feel any need to take personal responsibility for their actions.”

Suit Against Coaches Strikes Out in Court
Gene Maddaus, Pasadena Star-News, March 29, 2006

“A judge has made it safe again for high school coaches to lose their tempers, tossing out a lawsuit that accused a coach of inflicting ‘emotional distress’ on a softball player by calling her ‘a 2-year-old,’” reports the Pasadena Star-News.  The suit, filed by the attorney father of the alleged victim, sought $3 million dollars for, in part, “intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress” and named the accused coach, who coached junior varsity, the varsity coach, and their teams’ school district.  In dismissing the suit, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jan Pluim wrote that “there is nothing wrong with ‘a coach pushing an athlete to excel, and in so doing, using words that in another context would be considered rude, demeaning and even intimidating.’”  He added, “‘Referring to a student as a ‘two-year-old’ … is insufficient to constitute a tort in the context of a teacher-student relationship.’"

Top Three Finishers to Attend State Spelling Bee
Carla Roccapriore, Reno Gazette-Journal, February 10, 2006

After the parents of a disqualified spelling bee contestant threatened to sue the event’s organizers, including the Washoe County School District, should they not “meet [their] demand for a spell-off among the top three eighth-grade finishers,” the organizers decided to advance all three of the remaining competitors to the Nevada state final.  Sara Beckman was disqualified from the Washoe County Spelling Bee – the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade winners of which would advance to the state final in Las Vegas – despite having correctly spelled the word “discernible.”  Until a lawsuit was threatened, “spelling bee officials insisted that her disqualification would stand because her parents' protest about the mistake was not filed immediately after the disqualification, as stated in the rules.”  Of their decision to relent, Washoe County school officials argue that it, in part, “ensures that threatened legal action by a local attorney would not block the state contest, which would have harmed students from across the state.” article »

Gunter Honored for Education Opinion
Hope Star, January 31, 2006

Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Jim Gunter was “humbled” to learn that he had been named one of three recipients of the third annual Common Good Gatekeeper Awards. “’I was certainly humbled by having been chosen amongst all the judges in the country, and to have been selected,’ he said. ‘I also have some pride for my staff who did the research for me, particularly my law clerk Kathy Kostopolis.’” Gunter was selected for his decision in TJ v. Hargrove, a case where the mother of a 12-year-old sued after her son’s test scores in a voluntary accelerated reading program were omitted due to alleged cheating.  In dismissing the parent’s action, Justice Gunter wrote, “'There is a general policy against intervention by the courts in matters best left to school authorities.’” article »

Richland 1 Seeks Claims Audit to Reduce Number of Lawsuits
Lisa Michals, The State, October 18, 2005

When Allen Coles started as the new superintendent of South Carolina’s Richland 1 school district, he was surprised to learn that the district had been sued at least 40 times in the past five years.  Now he is looking for ways to reduce these claims. “We want the public’s education dollars to go into the classroom rather than to legal defenses,” says Coles. One place to look might be in the school yard, where, as the article notes, “playgrounds sometimes show up as culprits of numerous claims.”  One school board member, though, laments the unavoidability of some frivolous claims, stating, “[W]e live in a litigious society where people can file claims whether they have any validity or not.”

Wailupe School Bridge was "A Long Time Coming"
Roig Suzanne, Honolulu Advertiser, August 27, 2005

It took four years to build a small pedestrian bridge from Wailupe Valley (HI) Elementary School to an adjacent community park--a delay partly due to liability concerns.  The new bridge "will enable students to use the park for physical-education classes and May Day celebrations, and offers a safe meeting place in case of emergency." 

Ironically, the fear of being sued also played a role in the decision to build the bridge.  Before its construction, students could not be taken to the park unless their parents signed a consent form; the short walk "was considered a field trip" and field trips are fraught with liability concerns. 

High Schools Address the Cruelest Cut
Eli Saslow, Washington Post, August 22, 2005

In the increasingly competitive and pressure-filled world of high school sports, coaches dread having to cut players from the team. Legal threats can make that job even harder and can even turn coaching into a bureaucratic exercise. The Washington Post reports: "For the first time this season, Severna Park (MD) Athletic Director Wayne Mook required his coaches to record running times and player evaluation grades, then hand in that paperwork to him. It is an arduous process that many coaches find tiresome, but Mook instituted it for a reason: After a player was cut from the girls' lacrosse team last spring, the family hired lawyers to meet with the school." article »

Appeals Court Says Teacher Arrested as Drug Suspect Should Lose Job
Samuel Maull, Associated Press, July 7, 2005

Michael Campbell was employed as the administrator of "an anti-substance abuse program" at Intermediate School 72 in Staten Island, NY, when he was arrested in April 2002 for having "a bag of marijuana on his person [and] sitting in a car containing 10 aluminum bags of cocaine." While Campbell arranged a plea deal with prosecutors, agreeing to complete a drug-counseling program, the school district moved to terminate his employment. But termination proceedings were stopped when a hearing officer found that Campbell's completion of the counseling program entitled him to be reinstated.

Now, more than three years after Campbell was arrested, the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division has overruled the hearing officer's decision. Returning Campbell to his position would "be irrational" and "defy common sense," the judges wrote. Said a spokesman for the city Law Department, "[W]e shouldn't have to spend years on litigation to remove an individual convicted of serious drug charges."

We Can Get Kids Ready for College
Bobbi Vandenberg, Lacrosse Tribune, July 5, 2005

The National Honor Society honors high school students "who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character." At one time, the society required that potential honorees "have no record of trouble with the law for one year. This rule no longer exists due to threats of potential lawsuits." Lacrosse Tribune columnist Bobbi Vandenberg writes, "The challenges faced by our schools are a reflection of our society. Administrators and teachers work in fear of litigation. Behavioral expectations have relaxed, but learning cannot take place where there is little order. Not long ago a teacher's word was good enough for the majority of parents. Now there is often an attitude that the 'teacher is wrong until proven right.'" article »

Well-Intentioned Law Results in a Nightmare for Schools
C.T. Bo, St. Petersburg Time, July 1, 2005

Florida lawmakers hoping to stave off future tragedies like the case of Jessica Lunsford, who was kidnapped and murdered this past May, have passed a new law tightening penalties and restrictions on convicted sex offenders. Among other stipulations, the law calls for full background checks and fingerprinting of "any vendor, individual or entity under contract with the School Board." The new requirement is imposed at a time when school districts are often unable to obtain an honest job reference for potential employees, because previous employers are afraid of a lawsuit. And it may open up new avenues for litigation. The vague wording of the law has left some wondering how it will be interpreted and implemented. Do the nearly 2,000 volunteers who participate in the Annual Great American Teach-in need to put up $60 for the background check? What about volunteer chaperones, booster-club parents, and all the involved community members who make an invaluable contribution to a school's culture? article »

Flaws in Background Checks
Larry Hicks, York Dispatch, June 2005

It was only after Edward Fullum, a physical education teacher at Hannah Penn Middle School in York, PA, was arrested for alleged "sexual contact with female students" that the school district discovered his four previous DUI convictions. Fullum "slipped through the cracks" of the state-mandated background check, which requires schools to look back only five years. Three of Fullum's convictions came before 1994; the fourth came after he was already hired. But as columnist Larry Hicks points out, there are even larger concerns here than the law's "five-year window."

How do incompetent--and in rare cases, criminal--teachers move from one school to the next? Is it in the same way that Nurse Charles Cullen, who may have murdered up to 40 patients over a 16-year nursing career, was able to move from one hospital to the next, without ever being stopped by an honest job reference? "It's called 'passing on the trash,'" Hicks writes. "[S]chool districts (most employers, actually) are so afraid of being sued they avoid giving anyone a prickly job recommendation even if it's warranted. There was a time certain code words could be used to indicate a negative evaluation, but these days even that's discouraged by corporate and school district lawyers. Again, fear of a lawsuit. For the last 20 years or so, mum has been the word. If you couldn't say something glowing and sweet and nice, you just didn't say anything at all. In fact, in some districts, the general rule was not to give any job recommendations--good or bad. The end result, then, is that poor teachers and administrators rarely get kicked out of the education business; they just keep moving from one school district to another, with the most recent district never being the wiser as to the quality of its new hire until it's too late."

Nine-Year-Old Changes Law
David Royse, Associated Press, June 20, 2005

Thanks to the lobbying efforts of nine-year-old Kelsey Ryan, students with a peanut allergy will soon be allowed to carry EpiPhen--a needle containing life-saving medicine--in Florida schools. Currently, many schools require students to store the device in the school office, which could result in a deadly delay of treatment. In other parts of the country, students have been banned from carrying sunscreen or expelled for possessing pain pills--all demonstrating that legal fear and not common sense reigns supreme inside school walls.

Safety Always an Issue on School Trips
Martha Irvine, Associated Press, June 11, 2005

In the litigious and safety-conscious atmosphere surrounding our public schools, field trips to "faraway destinations" are being curtailed in some locations. The key question facing school administrators is, do the gains from these "valuable learning experience[s]" outweigh the legal and safety risks? If not, the key question for society becomes, do we need to reevaluate our thinking on what is and what is not a reasonable risk? (See "Danger!" by Common Good chair Philip K. Howard, and the speech on risk and the state by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.)

Best In Class: Students are Suing Their Way to the Top
Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, June 5, 2005

Think the widely-publicized Blair Hornstine case was an isolated incident? Think again. Hornstine's lawsuit to stop her school from naming a co-valedictorian was exceptional, both for its exorbitant compensation request--more than $2.2 million--and for the scandal that resulted when a local paper revealed that Hornstine had plagiarized material for a column. But bitter battles over the title of valedictorian have erupted in schools across America, leading to legal threats and actual lawsuits, with lawyers dissecting detailed rules and mathematical formulas and arguing over differences in GPA as small as .001 points. Some schools have eliminated the title; others have expanded it to include dozens of co-valedictorians. Whatever the right choice might be--Margaret Talbot of the New Yorker argues for keeping the sole valedictorian tradition--it should be based on reasoned judgment, not legal fear. article »

Teacher-Firing Legislation Now in State Senate
Kathleen D. Baily, Exeter (NH) News-Letter, May 27, 2005

A bill passed by the New Hampshire State House of Representatives would allow teachers to be dismissed at midyear if they fail to "satisfactorily maintain[] the performance standards established by the school district." Under current state law, a teacher may be dismissed for "incompetence," a standard Rep. Mark Carter (D) says is "not good enough." But opponents of the bill say the proposed language is too ambiguous and could result in a flood of litigation. "A teacher could immediately rush to court," argues Rep. Kimberly Casey (D). "There's no case law. There are no previous decisions." Karen McDonough, president of the state chapter of the National Education Association, adds, "Our fear is, what if there are unnecessary court cases? There would be a lot of wasted money over language that is very muddled."

The concerns of both proponents and opponents of the legislation arise from the same underlying problem: Public schools are being run by rules and regulations, rather than by human beings applying common sense. It is because no one has the authority to make decisions for the common good that bad teachers are able to stay in the classroom for years, while principals struggle to document "incompetence" or "unsatisfactory performance."

Voices of Hope, Despair Reflect Insight on Schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 27, 2005

Mary Kazmir, a photographer who takes class pictures in Northeast Ohio schools, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "When I first started [five years ago], things weren't that bad compared to what they are now. ... The kids seem to be in control, and I don't know if it's because the teachers can't or won't take control." Common Good believes that the fear of lawsuits and legal challenges is undermining teachers' authority to maintain order in the classroom. According to a Common Good/Public Agenda poll, 8 in 10 teachers said students are quick to remind them that they have rights or that their parents can sue.

Cuffed 5-Year-Old's Parents to Sue
Associated Press, April 25, 2005

At Fairmount Park Elementary School in St. Petersburg, FL, a five-year-old girl was pinned down by three police officers and put in handcuffs after she became disorderly and refused to obey teachers. The entire incident was caught on camera, and a video released last week by the mother's attorney was aired on news reports nationwide. The girl was "tearing papers off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and punching an assistant principal." But instead of taking common-sense measures to calm the girl down, educators evacuated the other students from the room and allowed the girl to continue misbehaving before finally calling the cops. The girl's mother had previously "ordered the school's staff not to touch her daughter," putting the assistant principal in "a very precarious position," said Pinellas County schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox. In fact, educators across America are being rendered ineffective in disciplinary matters by their fear of being sued. article »

Related: "Common Sense on School Violence," an editorial in the San Diego Union Tribune discussing the growing trend of turning disruptive students over to law enforcement.

Court Dismisses Suit over Punishment
Kelly Melhart, Star Telegram (Fort Worth, TX), April 19, 2005

Lori Welch was barred from participating in her high school's cheerleading tryouts "as punishment for passing a profane note on a ... school bus in 2003." In response, her father hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit "saying the punishment violated his daughter's constitutional rights." But the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, TX, has rightly dismissed the lawsuit, agreeing with school officials that students "do not have a constitutional right to participate in extra-curricular activities."

Teachers Say Angry Parents Big Threat
Liz Austin, Associated Press, April 13, 2005

 Last week, a high school football coach in Texas was shot and wounded by a player's father. A few months before that, a Philadelphia woman "slapped a teacher three times in the face after he told her she needed to get a late slip for her daughter." Last April in Dallas, a woman--herself a teacher--punched and kicked a teacher who "scolded" her daughter for "loitering outside a locker." The Associated Press gives needed attention to a disturbing surge in violence and intimidation directed against teachers by angry parents. "[T]eachers really feel they're in a pressure cooker," said Aimee Bolender, president of Alliance/AFT, a Dallas teachers' union. Added Lisa Jacobson, chief executive of Inspirica, a tutoring and test preparation business, "I've seen many cases of parents going into schools and coercing teachers to change grades."

Amidst this "general decline in civility," physical violence is not the only threat teachers face. The threat of a lawsuit arms angry parents to assert their child's interests over the common good. article »

Judge Throws Out School Grade Case
Herald Sun (Durham, NC), April 12, 2005

A North Carolina judge has thrown out a lawsuit over "capricious" grading. Research scientist Luping Qu says his daughter's teacher "made a grading error" that caused her to fail her junior-year evolution course. Qu's daughter (admittedly) failed to "turn in three homework assignments in the second half of the year." Special Deputy Attorney General Thomas Ziko had argued that the law "provides no avenue for suing a school over 'capricious' grading," and Judge Orlando F. Hudson rightly refused to allow this lawsuit, which would have further undermined teachers' authority to make reasonable decisions.

Bill Would Legislate Maryland Students' Use of Sunscreen
Daniel de Vise, Washington Post, March 29, 2005

Legislation pending in Maryland would "require school health officers to make sure students are allowed to wear sunscreen when they go outdoors on sunny days." Is legislation needed to enforce common sense? Apparently so. The Washington Post reports, "Montgomery County [MD] schools require a doctor's note for children to use sunscreen. Howard County requires a note from parents, and the lotion must be stored in the nurse's office." A survey of 24 Maryland school districts found that "[f]our school systems require a doctor's order for students to apply sunscreen. Eleven require at least a parent's note. Eight systems require students to leave the product with the school health officer." Said Roberta Herbst, project coordinator with the Coalition for Skin Cancer Prevention in Maryland, "Children should be able to bring sunscreen with them like they bring ChapStick." But when the threat of a lawsuit lurks behind everyday decisions, educators don't feel free to use their reasonable judgment. article » (Common Good found this story on Overlawyered.com.)

Bad Haircut Costs Oregon School District $10,000
Associated Press, March 17, 2005

"Sally Miller says she might have been grateful if a school employee had given her son a good haircut. Miller, however, threatened to sue when her son returned home with 'next-to-nothing' on his head." Now, the school is paying Miller $10,000 to settle her lawsuit over the unauthorized haircut. article »

Needed in Class: A Few Good Men
Jodi Helmer, Christian Science Monitor, March 15, 2005

The number of male teachers in America's public schools has hit an all-time low. Just nine percent of elementary school teachers and 35 percent of secondary school teachers are male. According to research by MenTeach, a "nonprofit clearinghouse promoting the recruitment of male teachers," the shortage is due to "low status and pay, the perception that teaching is 'women's work,' and the fear of accusation of child abuse." One male teacher told the Christian Science Monitor, "As a male teacher, especially in this day and age, you have to be a lot more conscious of your behavior. ... It is not something I necessarily worry about all the time, but I am aware of it." Bryan Nelson, founder of MenTeach, said, "Children are missing out on different teaching approaches, alternative authority figures, and male role models because there are so few male teachers."

A pilot study conducted by Public Agenda found that "[f]or many teachers, the chance that a friendly or comforting touch might be misinterpreted was an entirely realistic danger. Especially among the middle school and high school teachers we spoke with, the rule seemed to be never, ever reach out and touch a student. 'There are a lot of things you can't do,' one teacher reported. 'You can't even go up and put an arm around the kid that you think isn't doing well today.' Another teacher seconded the advice: 'It's not a good idea.'" In a 1999 survey, fully 78% of principals reported "banning all physical contact (i.e. hugging) for fear of lawsuits." article »

Judge Tosses Homework Lawsuit
Associated Press, March 9, 2005

A high school student's lawsuit against summer homework has been thrown out by Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Richard J. Sankovitz. Sankovitz rightly declined to subject educators' everyday decisions to judicial review, ruling that "it's up to school boards to decide such things."

Mobile's Schools Sued by Teachers
Rena Havner, Mobile Register, March 4, 2005

Like many of their colleagues across America, teachers in Mobile, AL, are frustrated by reams of paperwork and low pay. But in Mobile, teachers are turning their frustration into litigation. Last fall, 2,300 teachers filed a formal grievance with the school board over their concerns. Now, some teachers who say the board ignored the grievance have filed a class-action lawsuit against the board and Superintendent Harold Dodge. It's the second lawsuit to come out of the Mobile dispute. Last November, teacher Cindy Naylor sued after she wasn't allowed to finish her speech at a board meeting. (Board members said the meeting had become "unruly" and "dangerous.") Commenting on the latest lawsuit, Wade Perry, director of the local Alabama Education Association chapter, said, "Teachers work hours beyond 3 o'clock. They work weekends and nights ... and they have mountains of paperwork to fill out. It's never-ending." School board member Lonnie Parsons said much of the paperwork teachers are required to fill out is mandated by the federal government and the state.

School Says No Rock Bands Allowed in Talent Show
Associated Press, February 15, 2005

Hamburg (PA) Area High School wants to bar rock bands from performing at this year's after-school talent show. Rock bands have played in previous talent shows "without incident." But the school is "worried about the potential for injuries caused by 'moshing,' a form of dancing in which people bump into each other, sometimes violently." A reasonable concern, perhaps, and one that might have led to the school banning moshing, rather than certain bands. The school's concern, however, has been exacerbated by the fear of lawsuits surrounding our public schools. "It becomes a question of liability," said school board president Virginia F. Fitzpatrick.

School Districts Consider Countywide Alliance
David Fried, North Carolina Times, February 9, 2005

When parents and school districts clash over the provision of special education, it can cost districts up to $100,000 in legal fees for each case, according to Joe Schwartzberg, director of the North Coastal (NC) Consortium for Special Education. Schwartzberg says that "[i]n about 90 percent of cases, anticipated legal costs often push districts to settle with parents, even when they believe they have followed the letter of the law." But if a district settles too quickly, Schwartzberg says, it "sets itself up to [face legal challenges] more frequently." article »

Parents of Girl Expelled for Cheating Sue to Get F off Transcript
Associated Press, February 8, 2005

Private schools may be exempt from many of the burdensome laws and regulations that undermine public schools, but that doesn't mean they can't be sued. The parents of Katherine Junior agree that she, along with other students, cheated on a Western Civilization exam by studying old versions of the test; they also admit that the teacher "specifically told them not to use the old tests." But they still want the "F" removed from her transcript because, their lawsuit argues, "the teacher and administration broke their contract to offer 'sound and reasonable educational policies' ... by using the same tests year after year." article »

Father Sues Over Grade
Benjamin Niolet, News Observer (NC), February 1, 2005

 After failing in a "five-month quest to have teachers, administrators and state officials" change a bad grade given to his daughter, Luping Qu of Horse Shoe, NC, decided to file a lawsuit. (Common Good found this story on Overlawyered.com.)

Fired Teacher Settles Lawsuit for 50G
John Marzulli, New York Daily News, January 27, 2005

Judith Smith, a former art teacher who was fired by the New York City schools after allegedly throwing a chair at a student, has settled a lawsuit against her former principal for $50,000. Smith reluctantly agreed to the settlement only after the judge called her demand of $400,000 "grossly excessive" and "warned her that a jury would probably not agree with her claim that she was framed by racist school administrators." Smith had initially sought millions, alleging that her former principal "set her up" because she "is white and Jewish." In addition to the chair-throwing incident, Smith was rated as "poor" for "her use of profanity in front of students, her high absenteeism and her inability to control her classes." article »

Courts Spank Frequent Filer
Carl Campanile, New York Post, January 24, 2005

Peter Malley thinks he was wronged by New York City's Washington Irving High School, which fired him for "incompetence and insubordination" 18 years ago, and he doesn't care how many judges disagree. Since being fired, Malley has filed 18 federal lawsuits seeking "reinstatement and millions of dollars in damages. ... Each lawsuit has been tossed as meritless." Malley told the New York Post, "I will win eventually. ... The trick is not to get annoyed and to keep moving forward."

Class Clowns
David Andreatta, New York Post, January 24, 2005

A New York Post probe has found that "[n]early half of all public-school teachers brought up on disciplinary charges over the past five years--with offenses ranging from drug use to corporal punishment--are still in the school system and earning full salaries. ... In about one out of 10 cases, teachers beat the rap or charges against them were dropped. But in 37 percent of cases now closed, teachers held onto their jobs either by order of an independent arbitrator or by settling their cases with the city Department of Education."

Some examples: "Eileen Mackay was charged last year with showing up drunk at PS 20 in Staten Island. Yet the 52-year-old teacher managed to keep her $48,739 salary and get a paid "restoration of health" sabbatical in exchange for random alcohol testing and a $3,000 fine. Anthony Beach ... was busted in 2003 for possessing crack cocaine ... but he collects a $54,476 salary today after being ordered to seek drug counseling and pay a $7,500 fine." Our public schools cannot function when lawsuits and excessive bureaucracy stop administrators from making even obvious, common sense decisions--like firing a teacher who shows up drunk.

Lawsuit Seeks to Ban Homework During the Summer
Associated Press, January 20, 2005

Most high school students complain about homework, but 17-year-old Peer Larson of Milwaukee, WI, is doing something about it. Larson and his father have filed a lawsuit seeking to bar the assignment of summer homework. They argue that "school officials have no legal authority to make students do homework over the summer because the state-required 180-day school year is over." Whitnall School Board member Mary Ann Lindberg said, "Sometimes those kinds of decisions are best made at the building level with the teachers and the principal and perhaps someone in administration, because they know best what they're trying to achieve." Added Superintendent Karen Petric, "Court is not the place to solve it. It doesn't belong there."

District Sued Over Suspension
Alice Kenny, Times Herald-Record (NY), January 18, 2005

The student "froze an egg, stuffed it into a high-powered 'potato launcher,' then shot it at a passing school bus, shattering the window and spraying glass into a child's eyes, neck and shoulder." He was suspended from school for five months, but now his father, Steve Valastro, has sued to challenge the suspension. According to Valastro's attorney, the school had no right to discipline the student because the school's disciplinary code "addresses only student acts performed on school grounds. ... [T]he teen stood on his own property when he shot the spud gun." But other parents are outraged by the lawsuit. "Parents should get together and sue the kid's parents," one said. article » 

Public-Interest Lawyers Cash in on Classroom Suits
Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2005

School districts with more than 10,000 students typically spend $250,000 to $1 million a year on routine legal matters according to the National Association of Secondary School Principals. What else could $1 million buy? "Put it this way," write columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, "for every $1 million, the district could hire 14 teachers, or 14 social workers, or 14 nurses, or 14 librarians, or 14 counselors, or 14 instructional aides, or 13 bus drivers or a year's worth of school supplies for 25,000 elementary school kids." Lawyers who "recently won a very big public-interest lawsuit" against San Francisco's public schools are now asking the schools to pay $9 million in legal fees; the lead attorneys are seeking between $522 and $810 an hour. article »

School Nixes Dog on Campus
Earl Bolender, Mount Shasta Herald, January 12, 2005

Parents and children pleaded their case in an emotional school board hearing, but the board stood firm behind their lawyer's recommendation: Sophie has been banned from the campus of Dunsmuir Elementary School. Sophie, a cocker spaniel-poodle mix, who had "been brought to school for more than four years" by her owner, a third-grade teacher and vice principal, reportedly had a "therapeutic effect on students who were 'having a bad day.'" But school attorney Alan Swanson said Sophie's presence on campus was a violation of school policy and that "the potential liability to the district and employees is of paramount concern. ... [T]he risks of violating the district's policy by allowing a dog in the classroom 'exceed the benefits.'"

Students Sue School System, Claiming Denial of Education
Susan Salny, New York Times, December 21, 2004

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the New York City public schools, alleging there are "systemic flaws in the way the school system processes former juvenile offenders and delinquents." City regulations require that students released from juvenile detention "be placed in school within five days of applying, and no school can turn them away." In New York City and across the country, however, judicial intervention has often undermined our public schools, as the Economist reported. And large-scale litigation against public schools too often ends with detailed consent decrees, which add to an already onerous burden of law and undermine the freedom of educators to use common sense.

Who Needs a Bad Teacher When You Can Get a Worse Judge?
Economist, November 25, 2004

 An article in the Economist criticizes the courts for undermining accountability in America's schools. "[H]ead teachers usually have little power either to sack bad teachers or expel rowdy pupils. ... [T]he courts have moved from [the] broad principles [of Brown v. Board of Education] to micromanagement, telling schools how much money to spend and where--right down to the correct computer or textbook." article »

Related: You Can't Buy Your Way Out of a Bureaucracy

Time to Move Past Uniform Lawsuit
Rocky Mountain Telegram, November 15, 2004

"Now that the lawsuit challenging middle school uniforms has been dismissed for a second time," this editorial reads, "perhaps Nash-Rocky Mount educators can get on with their first order of business: teaching children. That may depend on whether parents who objected to the uniform policy decide to pursue an appeal, but here's hoping the issue dies. ... If the issue resonates so strongly with area voters, then they'll certainly have an opportunity to turn out the school board members who approved the policy. ... But let the lawsuit go. It has consumed taxpayer dollars and unnecessary court time. And only teachers and students know how much of a distraction it has been in the halls of middle schools."

Liability Concerns Cause Board to Weigh Unpopular Drug Policy
RedNova.com (TX), November 11, 2004

Under a new policy being considered by the Board of Education, students in Putnam County (TX) schools can only take Tylenol or other over-the-counter medications if: "the medication is prescribed for the student by a licensed provider; the medication has been properly registered with the designated qualified personnel; [and] a parent's signature and school nurse assessment has been obtained." One problem with the policy, says Dr. Joan Phillips, "is that doctors can't write prescriptions for over-the-counter medicines." Parents are also protesting "the cost of having to go to a doctor to get an order for over-the-counter medicines." But, says school nurse Delberta Riffe, the proposed policy is "the only way to provide adequate liability protection for nurses."

Teachers Hit the Bankbooks
Joe Williams, New York Daily News, November 9, 2004

Teachers in New York City are "reaching into their own wallets to pay for schools supplies--sometimes shelling out thousands of dollars for basics like books, art supplies and computers. ... A City Council survey found that the average teacher spent $400 of his or her own cash on supplies last year. ... Fed-up teachers even plead their cases on Web sites such as Craig's List, begging for basic supplies--crayons, soap and toilet paper--that other cities provide for their students."

The budget crisis in New York City's schools is not helped by the legal system. School districts with more than 10,000 students typically spend $250,000 to $1 million a year on routine legal matters according to the National Association of Secondary School Principals. This money comes out of schools' operating budgets, which are used to purchase supplies and pay teachers. What's more, the city is often constrained from shifting budget priorities by consent decrees that control the provision of many large programs, including special education with its $2.7 billion per year budget. article »

Related: EdWatch IN DEPTH: Consent Decrees Undermine Freedom & Accountability in Public Education

Athlete Loses Court Bid for Eligibility
Mark Reiter, Toledo (OH) Blade, September 17, 2004

When star football player David Ingram failed English class, causing his grade-point average to drop below Ohio's 1.0 minimum for participation in extracurricular activities, he turned to a judge to have his eligibility reinstated. Ingram has a learning disability and claimed that the school "failed to provide a tutor and other accommodations" during the final examination. But the school argued, and the judge agreed, that learning-disabled students must ask for special accommodations and that Ingram was "thoroughly acquainted" with the procedure. Ingram "was warned by his English teacher, his tutor and his counselor that he was failing ... and took no affirmative steps on his own to remedy or attempt to remedy the situation," said Judge David Katz. Despite Katz's ruling, school officials have to attend a hearing on the same subject next week--this time before a state Department of Education official. article »

Treating Asthma, Allergies at School
Fran Kritz, MSNBC, September 9, 2004

As childhood asthma and allergy rates are soaring in the U.S., some students may find it difficult to get the medication they need at school. The reason: Rather than make case-by-case assessments--and face possible legal challenges for bias--schools are adopting "zero tolerance" policies regarding drug use, and requiring "all medications to be kept in the nurse's office or, if there is no nurse, with a senior official of the school." Dr. Michael Welch of the American Academy of Pediatrics notes, "We're seeing situations in which an asthmatic child's inhaler is locked up in a drawer in the school office--and the key to that drawer is with the vice principal who isn't even in the building that day." article » 

Assigned Seating Upheld
John Curran, Associated Press, July 20, 2004

When a Pennsylvania Middle School gave Gianna LoPresti "lunch detention" for leaving her assigned seat in the lunchroom, it got slapped with a lawsuit. Gianna's father sued the school claiming that restricting her movement around the lunchroom violated her constitutional right to free speech. The court disagreed. Acknowledging that public schools are not allowed to restrict expressive or symbolic speech, the court ruled that Gianna's repeated unsanctioned trips to her friends' lunch tables did not fall under either category.

The Cost of Lawsuits Against Schools
"Baracy to Pick In-House Attorney for Schools"
Anne Ryman, Arizona Republic, July 8, 2004

This article in the Arizona Republic notes that "most school districts ... have insurance that takes over when a lawsuit is filed against the district. But day-to-day legal expenses involving disputes with employees and student discipline are not covered by insurance and come out of the operating budget." What else comes out of the operating budget? Among other things, teacher salaries and classroom supplies.

Beyond Satire
Marc Epstein, New York Post, June 28, 2004

In New York City, school administrators often find their hands tied by excessive bureaucratic and legal constraints when trying to deal with student discipline problems. But as Marc Epstein, Dean of Students at Jamaica HS, reports, the burden of law keeps growing. This year alone, two new consent decrees between the Justice Department and the city schools have been added "on top of the consent decrees already in force. ... Do they make our schools better, safer, and more efficient? Mostly, they establish permanent boards of inquisition, add to paperwork--and give activists a license to meddle. Perhaps worst, each is a 'sword of Damocles' hanging over administrators' heads, intimidating them from taking any initiative that might result in a lawsuit." Thanks to the new 'pushout' consent decree, school "guidance counselors citywide will no longer hint that a 19- or 20- year old with no hope of getting a diploma should consider alternatives like the GED or Job Corps for fear of a lawsuit." Instead, these failing, disruptive and sometimes violent students can exercise their right to be in the classroom until their 21st birthday.

Article no longer available on-line.

IN DEPTH: Teachers Tied Down by Legal Worries
Jim Bencivenga, Christian Science Monitor, June 14, 2004

Times have changed, Jim Bencivenga notes: "Talk but 10 minutes with teachers or principals [today] . . . and you'll quickly hear how the legal monkey on their backs is a major obstacle to providing a good education." more »

Suit Exposes Cultural Clash
Baltimore Sun, June 7, 2004

In Eastern Maryland, another lawsuit is filed over who should be a school's valedictorian. The local board of education "is considering whether to follow the lead of other Maryland districts and drop the valedictorian ritual in favor of a system that recognizes a wider array of talent." (Common Good found this story on Overlawyered.com.)

Ohio Bill Would Limit Lawsuits Against Teachers Who Discipline Students
Julie Carr Smyth, Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 26, 2004

State Representative Keith Faber, sponsor of this bill, says, "There's a cacophony of teachers and educators out there asking for the tools necessary to operate their schools effectively. ... We want them to feel free to find creative solutions without the constant threat of being sued."

Father Sues Over Discipline of Girl for Lunch Seating
John Curran, Associated Press, May 20, 2004

Giovanni LoPresti says his daughter's First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly were violated when she was given detention for not sitting in her assigned seat at lunch.

Family Sues Over T-Shirt Flap
Herald-Coaster ( Fort Bend, IN), May 12, 2004

When a sixth-grade student showed up at school wearing a t-shirt that stated,"Somebody went to Hoover Dam, and all I got was this dam shirt," Principal Otis "Buddy" Harr instructed her to change shirts or go home. For the next 6 days, she showed up wearing the same shirt, and each day her supportive father, J.R. "Chubby" Mercer, took her home rather than have her sit in in-school suspension. Now, the Mercers are suing for $10,000 for every day of school the girl missed (the total includes a request for punitive damages). The school's attorney is studying the suit further to "figure out what they think we've done wrong. I'm not entirely sure what they're suing us for." Mercer filed his complaint after the school board refused to overturn the suspension. He said, "I guess they thought we were just a bunch of schmoes. But we filed on them nine hours later." article » 

Scottsdale District's Legal Fees Soaring
Anne Ryman, Arizona Republic, April 24, 2004

Legal fees for the Scottsdale (AZ) Unified School District might reach $650,000 this year--up from the usual $400,000-$500,000 per year--largely because of two "high-profile" employee disputes. This article notes, "Large school districts routinely spend thousands of dollars each year on attorneys. The most common expenses are for student expulsion hearings and employee discipline. . . . [T]he money comes from the operating budget, the same fund that pays teacher salaries and buys classroom supplies."

Teen Goes to Court Over Gossip Discipline
Associated Press, April 18, 2004

Suspended for gossiping about another student, 16-year-old Ashley Mosby is going to federal court to defend her first amendment rights. Her own lawyer says,"One one level, I feel silly. . . . To go to this extent over what amounts to girl gossip is ridiculous." article »

School Board May Give $200,000 to Lake Worth Teen Who Jumped Off School Bus
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, March 10, 2004

Reyna Francisco was in the eighth grade when she and a friend jumped out the back of a school bus. Francisco is now suing the district for injuries sustained, in part claiming "negligent hiring and supervision" because the district was unaware of the bus driver's recent theft conviction. The district budgets $14 million annually for legal claims, has paid lawyers $43,000 in the Francisco case, and has been advised not to gamble with a jury.

District Seeks Trespassing Bill
Mara Rose Williams, The Kansas City Star, March 3, 2004

One Missouri school was sued three times last year, each time for approximately $100,000, by persons who were injured while trespassing on school property; the same school has seen its liability insurance rates increase by $500,000 since 1993.

IN DEPTH: Avoiding Lawsuits is Focus of School Newsletter
March 1, 2004

Public school administrators face difficult choices every day, but when it comes to avoiding lawsuits, the choice is clear: if you want to protect your school, worry about proper procedure first, then about right and wrong. more »

Parents Balk on Student Waivers
Meredith Goldstein, Boston Globe, February 12, 2004

Worried about frivilous lawsuits, a Massachussetts' public school asked parents to sign a liability waiver for any extracurricular activity, not just sports. article »

Family Files Suit Against School District Over Religious Speech
KATU News (Portland, OR), February 9, 2004

A kindergartner's parents filed suit because his teacher wouldn't allow him to pass out a Christmas card about "Christ's blood and body." Regardless of where you come out on prayer in public schools, a kindergarten teacher, who makes countless decisions every day, must be free to make reasonable choices without worrying about a lawsuit.

Religious Jellybeans Lead to Lawsuit
Associated Press, February 9, 2004

A kindergarten student was allowed to hand out a prayer on the playground, on buses and after classes, but not during class. Her parents sued. Again, the place of religion in our public schools isn't the only issue at stake here; reasonable, day-to-day decisions attempting to balance the needs of every student should not be the subject of lawsuits--particularly where the children are kindergartners. article »

Lawsuits Drain School Dollars
Melanie Ave, St. Petersburg Times, February 2, 2004

Florida schools are spending "millions and millions" every year to defend against lawsuits, many of them frivolous. A key contributor to the problem is the proliferation of laws impacting public schools. "With the amount of legislation there is," one school lawyer noted, "there's no way a school district can get away without having an attorney."

IN DEPTH: Dealing with Legal Fear in America's Public Schools
Comments on “10 Ways to Get Parents on Your Side and Avoid Lawsuits When Disciplining Students”
School Superintendent's Insider, February 2004

The feature article in a newsletter for school superintendents discusses "10 Ways to Get Parents on Your Side and Avoid Lawsuits When Disciplining Students" (School Superintendent's Insider; Brownstone Publishers, Inc.; Feb. 2004). The article illustrates how fear of litigation is interfering with everyday disciplinary decisions in our public schools and making it increasingly difficult and costly to maintain order in the classroom. "Even if a court ultimately rules in your favor," the newsletter notes, "lawsuits protesting school discipline can drain your budget and your staff morale." more »

Clinic Comes to Student's Aid
Miami Herald, January 15, 2004

Liability limits the treatment options of a school clinic to ice packs, bandages, and calls to parents.

For Their Own Good: Limit Student Rights
Richard Arum, Washington Post, December 29, 2003

A Washington Post editorial by Common Good Education Advisory Board Member Richard Arum advocates strictly limiting due process protections extended to students solely to cases involving major penalties or students' First Amendment rights. Arum argues in all other cases, courts should cease interfering with teachers' and administrators' discretion in ordinary day-to-day school discipline and youth socialization. article »

Judge Upholds Denial of Valedictorian Title Amid Cheating Scandal
Associated Press, November 29, 2003

Blair Hornstine gained national attention for successfully challenging her high school's decision to name co-valedictorians. In this case from Pennsylvania, a student legally challenged his school's decision not to name a valedictorian amid a cheating scandal. The school's attorney notes, "School administrators have to have some reasonable discretion to deal with these types of situations without being intimidated by a federal lawsuit which in our view is completely lacking in merit."

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