District Administration - April 2007 - (Page 34)

THE LAW denied due process. As a result of these cases, longstanding approaches to discipline and rules in areas such as dress code and student speech came under greater scrutiny and more frequent attack. By 1999, the American Tort Reform Association reported that 25 percent of 500 principals surveyed had been involved in lawsuits or outof-court settlements during the previous two years. Perry Zirkel, professor of education and law at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, says that school lawsuits reached a plateau in the 1980s and 1990s and even started to decline at the beginning of this decade. “But what they’re asking for has gotten larger,” Zirkel adds. “And the fact is we’re still spending tens of millions of dollars on litigation.” In 1998, a study by the Association for California Tort the situation as more of a mineﬁeld for educators. “They’re having to make decisions on a child wearing a T-shirt quoting Bibles verse on homosexuality,” he suggests. “If you don’t stop him, you may be creating a hostile learning environment. If you do stop him, you may be violating his First Amendment right to speak out.” That’s just what North Carolina attorney Richard Schwartz encountered while defending rural Midway High School. In response to a gay, lesbian and bisexual tolerance program, one student planned to wear a T-shirt and distribute literature promoting the opposing viewpoint. Principal Gaynor CanadyHammond said, “You’ll be written up for insubordination,” Schwartz recalls. The student received one day of in-school suspension, which led to a federal lawsuit against the Barnett v. Albuquerque Public Schools Special education and First Amendment cases are on the upswing, says Perry Zirkel, professor of education and law at Lehigh University. One such conﬂict played out three years ago in New Mexico, when Albuquerque Public Schools paid $200,000 to settle a lawsuit charging that four special needs students had been unjustiﬁably segregated and physically and emotionally abused by a poorly trained special education teacher. Attorney Gail Stewart, who represented the students and their parents, says that in some cases a child was physically lifted by adults and placed in seclusion for a “time-out.” She believes the lawsuit outcome offers some important lessons for schools. “Solid, good educational practices are the best way to avoid litigation,” she contends, like knowing how to deal with disciplinary problems or effectively deliver individualized instruction for special ed students. Teachers often lack training in working with special needs students, she says, so they act on what they know, which can result in physical force. They are not encouraged to say, “I don’t know what to do.” Albuquerque attorney Mike Carrico insists that special education is one of the most difﬁcult areas for schools to navigate. “There’s no cookbook or easy answer,” he says. “In Florida, we’ve spent millions and millions of dollars defending against lawsuits. We’ve had lawsuits on who should be the valedictorian of one high school, and we’re sued over dress codes … We’ve even been sued over what we serve in our cafeteria.” —John Bowen, attorney for the Manatee County School District, Florida Reform found that the costs of civil liability litigation on California’s public schools added up to $80 million a year. A Thin Line to Walk While the total number of lawsuits is leveling off, cases involving either the First Amendment or special education have multiplied in recent years, and groups that ﬁ le suit ask for more money. When it comes to free speech, especially religious speech, says Hutton, “the courts are loath to draw a bright line. They decide on a case-by-case basis.” Manatee’s attorney, Bowen, sees Sampson County School Board by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative nonproﬁt group, last May. “You’re likely to get sued from either direction,” Hutton adds. “If you move ﬁve degrees in one direction, the ACLU sues you. If you move 5 degrees in the other direction, you can get sued by some religious group.” How to Avoid a Lawsuit Those involved in school litigation suggest a variety of strategies to limit district legal exposure, help deal with the threats of legal action and defend districts that are actually brought to District Administration 34 April 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2007

Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
“See You in Court!"
Lost in Translation
Bonding Agents
Certifying AP Courses
Hunting for Talent - Part 2
Buying Power
The Musty Bookshelf
New Products
Leadership
Speaking Out
The Online Edge
Problem/Solution
Calendar of Events
Overheard On The Pulse

District Administration - April 2007