Legal Clips » Texas

April 17, 2012
In Governance, Student Rights & Discipline
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Tagged as dress code, prom, Texas

Survey of Texas districts’ prom dress codes highlights administrators’ concerns with revealing dresses, tattoos, and piercings

According to the Cleburne Times-Review survey of local school districts’ prom dress codes, most ban excessive displays of flesh. Alvarado High School, which recently held its prom, instructed students not to wear dresses that showed their midriffs, excessive skin or dresses that sat higher than 4 inches above the knee. On the other hand, Joshua High School, which will hold its prom later this month, has no prom dress code.

February 29, 2012
In Finance, Legal System, Student Achievement
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Tagged as adequacy, funding, state constitution, Texas

Parents group files another school funding suit against Texas

The Associated Press (AP) reports in Education Week that a small group of parents has filed the fifth school finance lawsuit against Texas, this one charging that the state is not getting enough bang for its buck and asking the courts to address inefficiencies in how education funding is spent.

February 23, 2012
In Equity & Discrimination, Legal System, Student Rights & Discipline, Supreme Court
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Tagged as Fifth Circuit, race, student admissions, student assignment, Supreme Court, Texas

U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear case challenging University of Texas’ “race-based” undergraduate admissions policy

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in a case, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, Docket No. 11-345, that asks whether the University of Texas’ race-conscious admission policies violate the rights of white applicants, reports CNN.

February 16, 2012
In Governance, Legal System, Religion, Student Rights & Discipline
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Tagged as Establishment Clause, Fifth Circuit, First Amendment, prayer, Religion, Texas

In settlement announcement, federal district court judge in Texas blasts presidential candidates who criticized prayer ruling

According to an Associated Press (AP) report in Education Week, a federal judge who was vilified by Republican presidential hopefuls for banning prayer at a Texas high school graduation delivered a scathing and unusually personal response, saying those who used the case to further political goals “should be ashamed.”

January 26, 2012
In Employment & Labor, Equity & Discrimination
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Tagged as employee, employee free speech, Fifth Circuit, First Amendment, free speech, retaliation, Texas

Federal Court of Appeals again determines school board members not entitled to immunity from employee retaliation claim

A three-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has vacated its earlier ruling and re-issued an opinion in the interlocutory appeal of school board members from a district court’s denial of summary judgment. The panel again rejected the school board members’s argument that the district court should have granted them summary judgement in a retaliation suit brought by the school district’s former chief financial officer (CFO).

December 8, 2011
In Legal System, Special Education & Disabilities
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Tagged as exhaustion of remedies, Fifth Circuit, IDEA, litigation, Special Education & Disabilities, Texas

Federal appellate court rules IDEA exhaustion of administrative remedies requirement is not excused to seek interlocutory appeal of hearing officer’s preliminary findings

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (LA, TX, MS) has issued a per curiam (unsigned) opinion ruling that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) does not provide an exception to its exhaustion of administrative remedies requirement for interlocutory appeal of a hearing officer’s preliminary findings and decisions. The panel also rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the exhaustion requirement was excused on the ground of futility.

December 8, 2011
In Equity & Discrimination, Legal System, Student Rights & Discipline
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Tagged as Fourteenth Amendment, municipal liability, qualified immunity, sexual orientation, student privacy, substantive due process, Texas

Federal district court rules student has cause of action for violation of privacy rights after school officials disclosed sexual orientation to her mother

A federal district court in Texas has ruled that a student has stated a valid cause of action for violation of her substantive due process right to privacy based on school officials’ disclosure of her sexual orientation to her mother. The court denied the officials’ assertion of qualified immunity and upheld the claim alleging municipal liability.

December 7, 2011
In Education Technology, Employment & Labor, Governance, School Safety, Student Rights & Discipline
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Tagged as employee discipline, employees, sexting, social networking, teacher misconduct, Texas

Texas board votes to terminate counselor accused of sexting student

The Judson Independent School District (JISD) school board has voted 6-0 to terminate elementary school counselor Cynthia Stewart, who is accused of sexting a 15 year-old student, reports the San Antonio Express-News.

November 23, 2011
In Curriculum, Governance, Health & Nutrition, Religion
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Tagged as sex education, Texas

Increasing number of Texas districts dropping abstinence-only sex ed programs

The Dallas Morning News reports in Education Week that that the number of Texas school districts teaching students about contraception along with abstinence has surged in the last three years.

November 23, 2011
In Finance, Legal System
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Tagged as adequacy, funding, state constitution, Texas

Two more districts join school funding suit against Texas

The Amarillo Independent School District board of trustees has voted to join districts from across the state in a lawsuit to force the state to change the current school funding system, says the Amarillo Globe-News. The Bushland ISD board of trustees also adopted a resolution at its meeting Nov. 15 to join the Texas School Coalition in its pending lawsuit against the state.

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Archived entries for Texas

Survey of Texas districts’ prom dress codes highlights administrators’ concerns with revealing dresses, tattoos, and piercings

Parents group files another school funding suit against Texas

U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear case challenging University of Texas’ “race-based” undergraduate admissions policy

In settlement announcement, federal district court judge in Texas blasts presidential candidates who criticized prayer ruling

Federal Court of Appeals again determines school board members not entitled to immunity from employee retaliation claim

Federal appellate court rules IDEA exhaustion of administrative remedies requirement is not excused to seek interlocutory appeal of hearing officer’s preliminary findings

Federal district court rules student has cause of action for violation of privacy rights after school officials disclosed sexual orientation to her mother

Texas board votes to terminate counselor accused of sexting student

Increasing number of Texas districts dropping abstinence-only sex ed programs

Two more districts join school funding suit against Texas

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