Jul 30th, 2025Student Records Management: Preparing for the Upcoming School Year
As the new school year approaches, now is the time for school districts and BOCES to review policies and procedures related to the management of student records. In particular, administrators and staff should review compliance with the notice provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), the federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.
Jul 30th, 2025Protecting The District's Real Property Tax Base and Its Interest In Payment In Lieu of Tax Agreements (PILOTS)
School districts have two primary sources of in-state revenue. The first revenue source is State Aid, which is received from the State of New York. The second primary source of school district revenue is real property tax payments received from the school district residents and commercial businesses. A subset of the Real Property Tax Revenue is revenue received pursuant to Payments in Lieu of Tax Agreements.
Jun 20th, 2025Less Is More: An Approach To Board Policies
Board policy manuals can become labyrinthine, running to dozens or over a hundred individual policies. Policy services provide sample policies on a broad array of subjects. Does that mean a school district or BOCES has to have a policy on each available subject, or are there reasons to use a more restrained approach?
Jun 20th, 2025U.S. Supreme Court Round-Up: Student Free Speech and Section 504 Claims
A number of cases are before the U.S. Supreme Court this term that have the potential to impact public schools. Of note so far are two cases; one which the Court intentionally did not decide and one which it did. We anticipate the Court’s upcoming ruling regarding a parent’s right to opt their child out of certain curriculum.
Apr 25th, 2025“Standardized” Purchases – Legal Requirements and Avoiding Pitfalls
One procurement tool available to schools and BOCES is “standardized” purchasing. Vendors often encourage schools to “standardize” on particular products for various reasons. While standardization may be the right tool in certain situations, its use is limited to narrowly tailored situations. In most situations standardized purchasing does not allow schools to avoid competitive bidding requirements.
Apr 25th, 2025Thorough DASA Investigations Help Protect the District
The Commissioner of Education recently handed down a decision that highlights the importance of thorough investigations and carefully following a district’s own policies in handling DASA investigations.
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