Back to School with JD Supra

Pop quiz: what do scholarships, student social media use, and competitive cheerleading have in common? Legal considerations you might have never thought about. Until now.

From lawyers and law firms on JD Supra, here’s a back-to-school reading list covering a broad range of legal issues you should know as you prepare for the start of a new year. 

And yes, this will be on the final exam. 

Not all scholarships are tax exempt:

“A new school year has started and many families have dropped their children off at college. While the schools supplies are purchased and your family has slipped back into a normal routine, you may have a little more work to do if your son or daughter is the recipient of any scholarships or fellowships. To ensure your child is starting off on the right foot with the IRS, you should review the taxation rules on scholarships and fellowships.” (Davis Brown) 

School bullies are going high-tech:

“There are many obvious educational benefits to students using and having access to technology. However, there is also a grave downside. These forms of technology make bullying other students easier than ever. In fact, more than 50 percent of adolescents and teens claim to have been bullied online. Approximately 25 percent have been bullied repeatedly via texts on their cell phones and over the internet.” (Lewis & Roca) 

Your mother was right – if you can’t say anything nice, it’s often better not to say (or tweet) anything at all:

“Social media has changed everything, moving that [drama, chatter, and gossiping between kids at school] to the public sphere and putting educators on uncertain legal ground. Whether the issue is students making fun of their teachers or principals, kids bullying other kids, protesting school policies or flouting student codes of conduct, the move into the social media arena complicates an important legal issue.” (Lawyers.com) 

Feel free to wear your “Jesus is not a Homophobe” shirt to school (says a federal court):

“Last year, the student wore the t-shirt to school on the 2011 National Day of Silence, a day during which students show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students. The principal of the school barred him from wearing the shirt, allegedly telling the student that the shirt was disruptive and improperly promoted a religious message.” (Franczek Radelet) 

Planning next year’s graduation? Don’t hold it in a church:

“A Wisconsin school district held graduation ceremonies for its two high schools in a non-denominational, evangelical Christian church for several years… District students and their parents who are not Christians challenged the district’s practice of holding the ceremony at the church. The District Court and a panel of the Seventh Circuit held that the practice did not violate the Establishment Clause. But the Seventh Circuit reheard the case en banc and reversed.” (Franczek Radelet) 

It’s never too early to start paying for college (with a 529 Account): 

“There are two types of programs: prepaid plans, which allow you to buy tuition credits or certificates at present tuition rates, even though the beneficiary (your child or grandchild) won’t be starting college for some time; and savings plans, which depend on the investment performance of the fund(s) you place your contributions in.” (McNees Wallace & Nurick) 

Competitive cheerleading may one day be a sport for Title IX purposes, but “that time has not yet arrived:” 

“A federal appeals court has held that competitive cheerleading cannot be counted as a sport for Title IX purposes. Although the decision came in a lawsuit filed by a university coach and students, it has implications for school sports programs at all levels of education, including at K12 schools.” (Franczek Radelet) 

In the market for a student loan? Read this Department of Education / CFPB “Shopping Sheet” first:

“A final model ‘financial aid shopping sheet,’ the result of a collaborative effort by the CFPB and the Department of Education, has recently been issued by the DOE. The shopping sheet is intended to serve as a uniform financial aid disclosure form.” (Ballard Spahr) 

Graduate students may soon have the right to be in labor unions: 

“In what appears to be a continuing effort to revisit key labor decisions involving private colleges and universities, the National Labor Relations Board agreed to hear companion cases involving the rights of graduate students to join and form unions. This announcement comes on the heels of the Board’s invitation for interested parties to file amicus briefs addressing whether the NLRB should overturn its longstanding Yeshiva University case, which held that professors at private Universities are barred from unionizing…” (Franczek Radelet) 

—- 

Read the updates:

• Congratulations on Your Scholarship. Don’t Forget to Pay Uncle Sam (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) 

• High-Tech Bullying - What Can Boards Do? Best Practices in Creating School Board Policies to Address Cyberbullying - Lewis and Roca LLP 

• Social Media Makes It Tougher to ‘Speak Out of School’ - Lawyers.com 

• School District Agrees to Allow Student to Wear “Jesus is Not a Homophobe” T-Shirt - Franczek Radelet P.C.

• Seventh Circuit Finds Holding High School Graduation in a Church Violates the Establishment Clause - Franczek Radelet P.C. 

• Planning For College - 529 Accounts - McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC 

• Competitive Cheerleading Not a “Sport” For Title IX Purposes (Franczek Radelet P.C.) 

• Financial aid shopping sheet for student loans finalized - Ballard Spahr LLP 

• NLRB Continues Focus on Universities, Will Revisit Graduate Students’ Right to Organize - Franczek Radelet P.C. 

—- 

Find related legal updates on JD Supra»