Students need a safe and dynamic educational environment in which to learn and thrive. Ensuring this can lead to significant challenges for school personnel who must understand and navigate through the legal rights and responsibilities of students and staff, ongoing parent-teacher-student expectations and relationships, academic and behavioral challenges, and financial considerations and limitations.
Best Best & Krieger LLP Education Law attorneys have decades of experience providing effective counsel and representation to K-12 school and school districts, public and private colleges and universities, county offices of education, charter schools, special education local plan areas and education foundations.
We advise on all student affairs matters, including:
- Student rights – free speech, religious exercise and expression
- Nondiscrimination, gender equity and Title IX compliance
- Search and seizure, drug and alcohol testing
- Sexual harassment, bullying and cyberbullying
- Inter-district transfers, open enrollment and related appeals
- School closures and boundary adjustments
- Pupil records and privacy issues
- Attendance, residency and enrollment issues
- Complaint procedures, investigations, responses and training
- Custody issues and parent rights and responsibilities
- Student discipline, including suspension and expulsion procedures, hearings and appeals
- Uniform Complaint Procedure investigations and reports
- Office for Civil Rights complaint investigation response and resolution
- California Department of Education complaint investigations
- Student athletics
- School safety and campus security
- Free school guarantee – restriction on student fees
- Dress code issues, policies and procedures
- Foster and homeless youth rights
- Special Education support and services
- Section 504 disability accommodations
Further, we help clients create and revise student handbooks, school policies, practices and procedures; offer training to assure staff compliance; and assert and defend our clients’ interests in federal and state courts, before regulatory bodies and before government agencies.
Areas of Focus:
Board Governance & Administration | Business Services & School Facilities | Charter Schools | Education Law | Education Litigation | Special Education
Areas of Focus:
Education Law | Education Litigation | Special Education | Student Affairs
Areas of Focus:
Board Governance & Administration | Business Services & School Facilities | Charter Schools | Education Law | Special Education | Student Affairs
Areas of Focus:
Board Governance & Administration | Business Services & School Facilities | Charter Schools | Education Law | Special Education | Student Affairs
Areas of Focus:
Board Governance & Administration | Education Law | Investigations | Labor & Employment | Special Education | Student Affairs
Event
Feb 03, 2021
Every Child Counts: The Latest in Student Services and Special Education
2021 Association of California School Administrators' Every Child Counts Symposium
Event
Feb 05, 2020
ACSA's 2020 Every Child Counts Symposium
Association of California School Administrators
Legal Alerts
Jan 22, 2020
New Education Laws
Part 1: California Laws Impacting Schools and School Districts for 2020
Event
Feb 15, 2018
What are Student Records and What are Public Records
ACSA Every Child Counts Symposium
Event
Jan 30, 2018
Discipline and Expulsion Best Practices
NBI Workshop - IEPs and 504 Plans
Event
Dec 01, 2017
Bullying: The Legal View and Cost
CSBA Annual Education Conference and Trade Show
Authored Articles & Publications
Sep 28, 2017
Suicide Prevention in Schools
New Law Requires Schools to Adopt Suicide Prevention Policies, BB&K Attorney Dorothy McLaughlin Writes in Riverside Lawyer Magazine
Event
Jul 20, 2017
The Difficult Issue of School Bullying from a Legal Perspective
8th Annual Safe Schools Conference
Legal Alerts
Jun 02, 2017
School District Can’t Stop Transgender Student from Using Restroom of Choice
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Temporary Injunction Against District