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BSPK Chalkboard: School Law Blog

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School Defends Against Public Records Lawsuit by Claiming Parking Tickets Are Private Educational Records Under FERPA
May 20, 2013 – 1:59 pm

Oklahoma University officials are being sued by a student journalist who claims the school illegally denied him access to public records.  The student sought parking citations issued to students during the Spring of 2012 to determine whether OU gave preferential treatment to student athlete parking lots. The school’s Open Records Office gave the reporter parking [...]

Parental Consent is Required During RTI When Functional Assessment Data is Collected Based Upon the Eligibility or Needs of a Specific Child
May 9, 2013 – 12:42 pm

The Office of Special Education Programs recently issued guidance to school districts in Letter to Gallo (113 LRP 19171 OSEP 04/02/13) specifying that, under certain circumstances, a teacher must obtain parental consent before gathering academic functional assessment data during a Response to Intervention (“RTI”). In the letter, OSEP explains that when a district gathers data [...]

Examination of contents of a student’s cell phone by school officials is a search and may be undertaken only if officials have reasonable suspicion that cell phone may contain evidence that the student is or has engaged in unlawful activity or is contemplating harm to student or others.
April 17, 2013 – 1:28 pm

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which governs Ohio, recently applied the standard for searches of student lockers and backpacks to the examination of the contents of a student’s cell phone.  In G.C. v. Owensboro Public Schools, the superintendent examined the contents of a student’s cell phone immediately after student indicated he was contemplating [...]