United States Supreme Court Declines to Discuss the Expectation of Privacy in Employees’ Digital and Electronic Communications
By: Amanda Sundquist The United States Supreme Court has issued a decision in City of Ontario v. Quon, which was discussed in my May 13, 2010 blog entry. At issue in the case was whether a member of the police SWAT team had a reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages transmitted …
Can An Employer Review An Employee’s Digital and Electronic Communications?
By: Amanda Sundquist The United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in City of Ontario v. Quon, regarding whether a member of the police SWAT team had a reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages transmitted on a SWAT pager. The Court’s decision in this case may have wide spread impact on …
Are Charter Schools Subject To Real Estate Taxes?
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 …
New Title IX Compliance Guidance
By: Amanda J. Sundquist The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for the U.S. Department of Education has issued new guidance regarding Title IX compliance for intercollegiate and interscholastic athletic programs. The new guidance withdraws OCR’s 2005 guidance and provides additional clarification on compliance with part three of the three part Title IX test. …
En Banc Rehearing on Free Speech Decisions Granted
By: Amanda Sundquist As discussed in my February 18, 2010 and April 12, 2010 blog entries on free speech, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reached conflicting results in two student free speech cases: Layshock v. Hermitage School District and J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District. The …
Searching Student Electronic Devices
By: Amanda Sundquist Much attention has been focused recently on the alleged laptop webcam spying in Lower Merion School District. One of facts of the case is the possible violation of Pennsylvania’s Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, an act with implications for all school districts. Even before this video incident, technology and …
Request for Clarification on Free Speech Decisions
By: Amanda J. Sundquist As discussed in my February 18, 2010 blog entry, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reached conflicting results in two student free speech cases: Layshock v. Hermitage School District and J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District. An article in the Legal Intelligencer reports …
Free Speech Decisions
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 …
Who May Participate in Public School Extracurricular Activities?
By: Amanda J. Sundquist In Trefelner v. Burrell School District, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued a temporary restraining order to compel a school district to permit a parochial school student to participate in extracurricular activities offered by the school district, including marching and jazz bands. Pennsylvania’s Public …
First Anniversary of the New Right-to-Know Law
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 …