Be Specific to Keep Suspensions Valid, Says Interim Commissioner

The Interim Commissioner of Education has been busy issuing decisions in August and September addressing the sufficiency of charges for student discipline hearings. Particularly, in two cases of note, suspensions were annulled and expunged due to a finding that the charges levied by the District were insufficient. By way of review, to suspend a student …

Preparing for Possible Reductions in Force

In April 2020, Governor Cuomo announced the possibility of mid-year state aid cuts of up to twenty percent if the federal government did not provide financial assistance.  Even though on September 16, 2020 Governor Cuomo announced that the aid to be disbursed in September will not be reduced, the already reduced state aid, along with …

Transgender Student Athletes Fate Uncertain

A recent letter of enforcement by the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) places greater uncertainty on the fate of transgender student athletes.  In May 2020, the OCR concluded that Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s (CIAC) policy to permit student athletes to participate in sports based on their gender identity violated Title IX.  …

New Record Retention Schedule: ED-1 is Being Replaced by LGS-01

Regents Take Action to Provide Schools Flexibility for the 2020-21 School Year

In recent months, the Board of Regents has acted to delay deadlines and relax certain requirements to assist schools and students in the unprecedented task of reopening school amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The stated goal of the Board of Regents in implementing these changes is to “provide flexibility to certain regulatory requirements in response to …

Attitude Matters: Importance of Not Conveying Frustration with COVID-related Leaves

Employers receive requests for leaves of absence/intermittent leave as an accommodation for an employee’s own health condition, requests for leaves of absence in order to care for a family member with a serious health condition, requests for leaves of absence in order to provide supervision of a child whose school is closed, among other reasons. …