California Business Litigation Blog

School field trips may become a rare treat at some California schools in the wake of a pending lawsuit that has been brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The lawsuit, which was filed in 2010, charges that the state of California has neglected to enforce the "free school guarantee" that is mandated by the state's own constitution. The ACLU alleges that charging mandatory fees for educational field trips violates the law.

The suit has led California school districts to re-examine their policies on field trip fees. Typically, it has been assumed that parents will pay fees to cover the cost of school-sponsored educational field trips. Children whose parents do not pay the fees simply fall through the cracks if there are no funds provided by booster groups or other parents to cover their costs.

Children who are left behind when their classmates go on trips may or may not have the opportunity to attend their regular classes. The ACLU claims this practice essentially forces parents to pay additional fees if they want their children to have the same educational opportunities as other students in their schools.

California students are guaranteed the right to a free public education by the State's constitution. Allowable fees are specified in the California Education Code and include fees for such things as optional testing, graduation gowns and caps or tickets for dances and other entertainment activities. Any trip that takes place during school hours and takes students away from their regular classes must be free for all students.

According to Yancy Hawkins, who is the fiscal-services manager for the Palo Alto school district, "We can ask for donations, but it has to be just that." Although his district has had to make few changes, it's not so easy for some districts. "In terms of changing what we're doing, there hasn't been a huge impact, and a lot of that is because of the generosity of this community...Kids weren't being excluded in Palo Alto, whereas in a lot of other districts they were, and I think that's where the lawsuit came in," said Hawkins.

Continue reading "Future of School Field Trips Uncertain in California" »

We at Sylvester Oppenheim & Linde would like to take a moment to wish our clients, family and friends (including our blog readers), a very joyous and happy Thanksgiving.

Whether you are celebrating with a small gathering, or preparing for what is shaping up to be dinner for a small country, we wish you and yours all the very best.

According to a study conducted by Plymouth University, teachers in the UK are increasingly becoming the target of cyber bullying at the hands of students and parents. Andy Phippen, who authored the study, questioned nearly 400 teachers earlier this year about their experiences with cyber bullying. He discovered that 35 percent of the teachers in his sample said that they or a colleague had been the victim of cyber bullying perpetrated by students or their parents.

In an interview, Phippen stated, “Everyone acknowledges this is a problem and something needs to be done about it, but schools lack support. It is a sticky area as some of the things posted may not be considered illegal." Furthermore, British schools have not shown much support for teachers who have been targeted. "I heard of one case where a teacher told his employers about the bullying and not only did they tell other members to staff to ignore this teacher, they also suspended him. Their reasoning was ‘there is no smoke without fire’.”

The study's participants reported incidents of cyber bullying ranging from Facebook postings to abusive Tweets. Phippen was particularly disturbed to discover that 26 percent of the bullying was actually committed by parents. One educator who participated in the study had what she called a "mini breakdown" after a year-long campaign of abuse by a parent. “The parental statistics were particularly surprising," said Phippen. "Schools are definitely playing down the severity of the issue, whether it’s because they just don’t realize, or because they don’t know how to deal with it.”

Phippen wants to change that and thinks Britain needs a nationwide support network to address the problem. Although I am not aware of any similar study in the US, it's (unfortunately) a safe bet that it's happening here. In recent years American courts have heard several cases in which students were suing over punishments meted out by schools for mocking or insulting posts made outside of school.

The Fontana Unified School District is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the teachers union in the San Bernardino County Superior Court. The suit is demanding that the school district reinstate counselors that the district laid off. The teachers union alleges the counselors should be allowed to return to work on the basis of seniority.

The teachers union claims that the Fontana Unified School District has violated the California Education Code. According to the lawsuit, the district let 68 counselors go after the 2010-2011 school year, then created two new job titles for what was essentially the same position and attempted to hire 42 new counselors.

According to Pat Mazzulli, president of the Fontana Teachers Association, the new counselor positions are “substantially similar” to the old counseling positions. “Rather than follow procedure in the Education Code, the FUSD made reduction in force counselors reapply and interview for their jobs. FUSD attempted to hire outside the district as well," Mazzulli said. According to Mazzulli, the California Education Code requires that the laid-off counselors be given the opportunity to accept or refuse substitute slots before the jobs are offered to new applicants.

The Fontana Unified School District denies any wrongdoing and insists the new counseling positions are entirely different from the old ones. William Wu, assistant superintendent of human resources for the school district, said in an interview that "the district reviewed the comprehensive counseling program, tailored it to the needs of the district and then created new district positions to provide better and different student services…They are not the same as the comprehensive counseling program." Furthermore, said Wu, “The district is not in the business of violating peoples' rights. We are in the business of serving children, but we are not in the business of violating peoples' rights in the process.”

However, the school board has postponed plans to hire applicants for the new positions. According to Mazzulli, no trial date has been set.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Alleges: New Positions a Ruse to Hire New Counselors " »