lawprofessors

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995     Cyber sexual bullying is now a suspendable or expellable offense in California schools.  Bullying already is an expellable offense, but apparently the legislature did not think "bullying" alone was broad enough.  As such, the legislature chose to add a new offense to the ever growing list of things a student may do wrong.  Now students may not bully and also use or reference sexually explicit electronic communications, which are covered by this new subcategory of bullying. California Education Code �48900(r)(2)(iii)  states: "...�cyber sexual bullying� means the dissemination of, or the solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or to school personnel by means of an electronic act that has or can be reasonably predicted to have one or more of the effects described in [the Bullying section] . A photograph or othe...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Filing a required claim form with a government agency, such as a school or school district, prior to moving to court can be a daunting and confusing task.  I have previously written about the pre-court filing requirement for certain claims against a school or school district ( here ,  here  and  here ) but wanted to add a list of some exclusions (may not be an exhaustive list) for parents and students.   I don't need to reiterate my earlier posts on filing and late filing, but one code section is relevant when evaluating whether a pre-court filing may be required or not.    California Government Code section 905  states: "There shall be presented in accordance with Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 900) and Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 910) all claims for money or damages against local public entities except any of the following: (a) Claims under the Revenue and Ta...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Earlier this week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that a transvaginal ultrasound requested of college students at Valencia College in Florida was a search for Fourth Amendment purposes.   California is within the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals , but often sister jurisdiction decisions impact and influence decisions here.  The decision is noteworthy for its facts, which college students may want to be aware of, and for the definitive ruling that this conduct did involve a search for purposes of Fourth Amendment analysis. The basics are that students who entered the state run Valencia College Sonography program were allegedly asked to "volunteer" for transvaginal ultrasounds to be performed on them by other students in the program (male and female).  Three students refused.  Two were allegedly thereafter badgered into allowing this invasive procedure to be done on them.  The thi...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 High school sports laws in California are the bane of many parents, and students, existence.  They are restrictive and can be confusing for one and all.  One of the most common issues for students involves the transfer process, particularly when an overzealous parent calls up the new school prior to the transfer or an old coach is associated with the new school.  This may be found to be "athletic motivation" and can result in the student not being able to participate in sports for one calendar year. No student who transfers schools (whether they move or not) may participate in sports at their new school until they are granted permission by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the ruling body over California high school sports.  CIF writes bylaws which are updated annually (usually during the summer) which cover most sports issues, including the ability of students to participate. ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Moving your home is never easy, but some stuff should be smooth: calling to set up utilities, finding a local grocery store, enrollment in school.  These things should not be big deals, right?  Sure.  But, what if your child is in special education?  How will their move go?  Things can get sticky or services may stop altogether.  Parents need to take action prior to relocating with a special needs student to try to avert disaster. Technically and legally, nothing should change for your child at their new school.  If a student had a full time aide while being mainstreamed, they should get a full time aide and be mainstreamed at their new school.  If they had Resource English class, they should have it again, at least for a little while.  Sounds simple. The California Education Code section which addresses moves, 56043(m)(1) states:   If an individual with exceptional...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Most California public school students must be fully vaccinated to attend public or private classroom-based schools.  If a student is not vaccinated, or does not fit within an exemption, they will be excluded from school until proof of vaccination is submitted.  As a majority of children are vaccinated already, most parents will yawn and send their kids to school.  However, what will happen if a student missed even one shot?  Are there any options if a parent does not want to vaccinate their child for the student to attend regular school?   The list of required vaccinations is outlined in California Health and Safety Code section 120325 and 120335  and includes slightly different requirements if a student is entering classroom-based school in seventh grade or will start under the new law in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade.  The vaccinations required if a student ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Cell phones are often searched by school officials to gather information in discipline proceedings or to search for crimes alleged.  Parents and students are usually at a loss on whether to allow a search of a cell phone when asked by school officials and the proper scope of any search.  Can a school force a student to allow a search of their cell phone?  What is the scope of the search allowed?  And, what if information on another "crime" is found during the search?  A new law, effective this year (2016), may (or may not) bring some closure to these issues. In October of 2015, the Governor signed into law SB (Senate Bill) 178, also known as the "Electronic Communications Privacy Act" which is reflected in California  Penal Code  ��1546-1546.4 .  Penal Code Section 1546.1(c) states:   "A government entity may access electronic device information by means of physical ...