Best Best & Krieger News Feed

Special Education Seminar

30 Oct 2015 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger is hosting a seminar focusing on the most important special education topics.

What will be covered:

Eligibility, Disability and Educational Benefit
Charting Education Progress
The Interaction of the IDEA, the ADA and Section 504
Hot Topics
Legal Panel

When:
Friday, Oct. 30
7:45 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Where:
DoubleTree Ontario
222 N Vineyard Ave
Ontario, CA 91764
Directions

Cost:
$75 per person (Groups of 10 or more will receive a 50% discount on their attendance)
Breakfast and Lunch will be served

To pay by credit card, please fill out the form below:

To pay by check: Please make check payable to:
Best Best & Krieger - Attention Velna Christopher
3750 University Ave #125
Riverside, CA 92501

Registration

Please click here to register.

For groups of 10 or more, please click here to register.

BB&K Partner Jack B. Clarke, Jr. Honored by Riverside African-American Historical Society

23 Oct 2015 00:00:00 -0800

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Jack B. Clarke, Jr. was honored by the Riverside African-American Historical Society earlier this month for his contributions to the community. According to the Society, the 2015 RAAHS Annual Meeting Award is given to individuals who have impacted the community through their leadership, commitment and achievements.

Clarke joined BB&K 30 years ago and focuses on litigation concerning education law, special education disputes, public agencies and other types of substantial litigation matters. Clarke is perhaps best known in the community for being the first African-American to chair the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and for chairing the Mayor’s Use-of-Force Review Panel in 1999 following the police shooting death of Tyisha Miller in Riverside. He earned his law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of California, Riverside.

The award was given during a reception on Oct. 11. The RAAHS is a nonprofit organization formed to preserve the Inland Empire’s African-American culture and historical heritage through advocacy, education and community involvement.

Opposing Counsel: Dorothy McLaughlin

06 Aug 2015 00:00:00 -0800

Dorothy McLaughlin, who is of counsel at Best Best & Krieger LLP, tells Riverside Lawyer Magazine that she didn’t think parents’ jobs as lawyers looked like much fun. But, she said in the interview, practicing law gave her the opportunity to put her passions for teaching, writing and advocacy together.

Read the entire profile, published in the June 2015 edition of Riverside Lawyer Magazine, by clicking here (beginning on page 30).

California Governor Eliminates Personal Belief Exemption for School Vaccinations

01 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0800

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law Senate Bill 277, eliminating the personal belief exemption for existing specified immunization requirements, including measles, mumps and pertussis, for both public and private school attendance.

SB 277 requires that before a student’s initial admission to a school or childcare facility, he or she be immunized and provide documentation of such immunization for the following diseases: diphtheria, haemophilus influenza type b, measles, mumps, pertussis, poliomyelitis, rubella, tetanus, hepatitis B, varicella and any other disease the state health department deems appropriate. Students who attend a home-based private school or are enrolled in an independent study program and who do not receive classroom-based instruction are not affected. Exemptions from immunization for medical reasons remain in place. SB 277 does not prohibit a pupil who qualifies for an Individualized Education Program under federal law and section 56026 of the Education Code from accessing any special education and related services required by his or her IEP.

The law phases in the elimination of the personal belief exemption by permitting students who submit documentation before January 1, 2016 to a school or childcare facility asserting their opposition to immunizations to wait until they enroll in the next grade span -- defined as 1) birth to preschool; 2) kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, including transitional kindergarten and 3) grades 7 to 12 – to be immunized. This phase-in period ends on July 1, 2016, at which time schools may not unconditionally admit or advance any student to seventh grade without the immunizations required for his or her age.

The impetus for the law came from California’s recent outbreak of measles stemming from unvaccinated individuals infecting others who were vulnerable to the disease, including children unable to get vaccinated because of their age or health condition.

The entire text of the chaptered Bill can be found here.

If you have any questions regarding this legislation or school vaccination requirements, contact the attorney author of this legal alert listed to the right, another attorney in the Education practice group or your BB&K attorney.

Disclaimer: BB&K legal alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information in this communiqué.

Handle Situations Where Student Has Disability, Transgender-Related Needs

24 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0800

“You have to be very careful about not putting gender identity issues in the category of disability,” Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Dina Harris said in an article published April 25 by Special Ed Connection.

Click here to read the entire article.

3rd Annual Safe Schools Conference at L.A.County Office of Education

01 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Jack Clarke and Cathy Holmes spoke at the 3rd Annual Safe Schools Conference hosted by the Los Angeles County Office of Education Conference. This three-day conference discussed the direct link between school safety, learning, attendance, and higher test scores.

When:
August 1-3, 2012

Where:
Renaissance Hotel, Long Beach, CA 90802

Audience:
Superintendents, Board Members, Directors of Child Welfare and Attendance, CWA/SSS District Personnel, Nurses, Safe Schools Coordinators, Principals, Assistant Principals, Teachers, Law Enforcement, Probation, DCFS & DMH, Parents, Nurses, and SARB Members.

BB&K Speakers:
Jack Clarke, Partner
Cathy Holmes, Partner

For more information about the event, please view the event flyer

Initial IEP Based on Severe Discrepancy Model Need Not Use or Disclose Response-to-Intervention Data

05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

A federal court recently ruled that a school district which elected to use a severe discrepancy model to determine whether an 11-year-old student with reading difficulties qualified with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was not required to use earlier-accumulated Response-to-Intervention (RTI) data as a basis for developing the student’s initial IEP.

In M.M. and E.M. v. Lafayette School District, Case Nos. CV 09-4624 SI, CV 10-04223 SI, 112 LRP 6847 (N.D. Cal. 2012), the student’s enrollment in kindergarten coincided with the school district’s adoption of the RTI model, used as an intervention strategy to assist challenged learners. The parents filed a due process complaint asserting that: (1) the district was legally required to consider the RTI data in developing their child’s IEP; and (2) the parents could not meaningfully participate in the IEP meeting without all of the available RTI data, thus denying their child a free appropriate public education (FAPE).

In denying both of the parents’ arguments, the court first determined that the district was not required to disclose the student’s RTI data to the parents, because his eligibility was permissibly determined by the severe discrepancy model. The IDEA requires districts to disclose "instructional strategies used and the student-centered data collected" if a district uses the RTI method to determine SLD eligibility. The IDEA does not require the disclosure of RTI data where it was not used in an eligibility determination. Here, although the district implemented RTI strategies before referring the student for IDEA evaluation, the student’s eligibility determination was permissibly based on the severe discrepancy model. The court, therefore, rejected the parents' claim that the district’s "withholding" of RTI data impeded their meaningful participation in the IEP process.

Under the IDEA, it is optional for a school district to consider RTI data in determining whether a student has a specific learning disability. The court found that the district was not obligated to consider the RTI data in this case because it conducted appropriate evaluations and based its initial IEP on sound evaluation data, therefore, its decision not to consider RTI data did not violate the IDEA.

In summary, neither the IEP team's failure to rely on RTI data in making its eligibility determination, nor the school district’s failure to disclose the RTI data to the parents, denied the student a FAPE.

For more information on this case and its potential impact on your district or organization, please contact Steven Lake, Megan Moore, or your BB&K School Law attorney.

Disclaimer: BB&K Legal Alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information in this communiqué.

Expanded Definition of “Parent” Relieves State of Further Liability for Special Ed Placement

17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In a recent published decision in which BB&K attorneys represented the Orange County Department of Education, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the school district in which the “parent” resides is responsible for providing a foster youth’s special education program in an out-of-state facility. The decision was based upon a 2007 amendment to the Education Code which expanded the definition of “parent” to include “guardians authorized to make educational decisions for the child.” Prior to 2007, the Court held that if a student had no statutorily defined “parent,” the California Department of Education (CDE) was responsible by default.

This ruling is significant in that it was the first time the Ninth Circuit held CDE directly responsible for a student’s special education program as the result of the state’s failure to properly delegate educational responsibility to a local educational agency. It is consistent with other circuit courts which have similarly held that a state educational agency is the entity ultimately responsible for providing each child within the state a free and appropriate public education.

The ruling clarifies who bears responsibility for the cost of a foster child’s out-of-state special education program depending on what law was in effect at the time. In this case, CDE was held responsible for funding the student’s education until October 2007, when the Legislature redefined the “parent” definition in the Education Code to include the child’s “de facto parent.”

For more information on how this decision or the 2007 Education Code amendments may impact your district, please contact Karen Van Dijk, or another attorney in Best Best & Krieger’s School Law practice group.

Disclaimer: BB&K Legal Alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information in this communiqué.

Special Education Webinar: Annual Special Education Update

10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Please email Katey Lamke at Katey.Lamke@BBKlaw.com for a copy of the webinar recording.

Description:

BB&K school law attorneys presented our annual webinar focusing on special education issues.

Topics included:

9:00am - 10:00am: Hot Topics - including Assessment, Prop 98 & Mental Health Services Update
10:00am - 11:00am: Bullying
11:00am - 11:15am: Break
11:15am - 12:15pm: Section 504
12:15pm - 12:30pm: Q & A Session

BB&K Attorney Jack Clarke Jr. Spoke on Free and Appropriate Public Education Issues

28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0800

BB&K partner Jack Clarke, Jr. presented "An Overview of the Legal Requirements of FAPE and an Attorney's View of the Responsibilities of Speech/Language Pathologists in Helping to Provide Appropriate Services to Children With Exceptional Needs" at the San Bernardino County's Superintendent of Schools' Region 10 meeting from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Jessie Turner Center, 15556 Summit Avenue.

For more information or to register, please visit the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools' website.