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School Districts

Obligations under the Equal Access Act

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By: Amanda Sundquist Following up on its recent guidance on bullying and harassment, on June 14, 2011 the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a “Dear Colleagues” letter regarding the impact of the Equal Access Act (the “Act”) on gay-straight alliances (GSA) and similar student-initiated groups addressing LGBT issues. OCR reminds …

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Are Charter Schools Subject To Real Estate Taxes?

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In an opinion and order dated March 16, 2010, the Commonwealth Court concluded that a property leased by a Pennsylvania charter school was not eligible for an exemption from the payment of real estate taxes. In the case of In Re: Appeal of Collegium Foundation and Collegium Charter School, the court concluded that …

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Doing Business with Local Governments in Pennsylvania

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Selling to and purchasing for local governments in Pennsylvania poses unique challenges because local government in Pennsylvania is very local. The Brookings Institution has calculated that Pennsylvania has 2,566 municipalities: 56 cities; 962 boroughs; 91 first class townships, and; 1,457 second class townships. This does not include Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts, …

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Free Speech Decisions

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By: Amanda J. Sundquist The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has issued new, and competing student free speech decisions.  The cases names are becoming familiar to school districts across the region: Layshock v. Hermitage School District and J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District.  Both cases address the …

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New Earned Income Tax Consolidation Resources

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By: Amanda J. Sundquist The Department of Community and Economic Development has released its report “Earned Income Tax Consolidation Best Practices Report.” This resource may be helpful to school districts and municipalities which are navigating through the consolidation of the earned income tax collection system. For assistance utilizing information in the Report or …

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First Anniversary of the New Right-to-Know Law

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By: Amanda J. Sundquist January 2010 marks the first anniversary of the implementation of the new Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law. The past year has been a year of firsts for local agencies, requesters, and the Office of Open Records as the law has been implemented and interpreted. Sixty-five determinations by the Office of Open Records …

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Constitutional Right of Privacy v. Right-to-Know Law Round One – Privacy Rights Win

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The Pennsylvania State Education Association and employees recently sought a preliminary injunction against the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records to prevent the disclosure of their home addresses pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law. In a recent Order and Opinion, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has determined that public school employees’ privacy interest in their home addresses outweighs …

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New FERPA Regulations–Effective January 8, 2009

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  The Department of Education has published a final rule that will become effective January 8, 2009 which is available at http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/2008-4/120908a.pdf.  This rule updates the Family Education Rights and …

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Welcome

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Welcome to the Municipal Section’s blog.  This blog will address current laws, interesting trends and legal issues affecting municipalities, authorities, school districts, developers and property owners in and around West Chester and Chester County, Pennsylvania. Please bookmark and …

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