Thought Leadership

Back to School 2025: Changes to Your Title IX Sexual Harassment Definitions

August 29, 2025

Reviewing your Title IX sexual harassment policy, procedures, and forms on a regular basis is always a good idea. You may want to make changes to be more user-friendly, clarify ambiguities, and respond to difficulties encountered with the current policy. This year, as we head back to school, there is also one required change: the definition of sexual assault.

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Back to Bayside: Lessons from Recent Cases (A Saved by the Bell Special)*

August 28, 2025

Alright, summer’s over, and it’s time to get back to class! The bell just rang on a couple of special education cases from the Fifth Circuit, and let me tell you, they’re dishing out some serious lessons that even Mr. Belding would appreciate. These two cases, both involving the same Mississippi school district, remind us of a golden rule: if a student’s not making progress, it’s time to call a timeout—or in our case, an ARD committee meeting—to rethink the game plan.

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The Supreme Court Weighs in Again on School Liability Under Section 504 and the ADA Related to Education for Students with Disabilities

June 12, 2025

Two years ago, when the Supreme Court decided Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, which allows students to sue districts for money damages under Section 504 and the ADA without first exhausting the IDEA administrative procedures, we suggested that the decision might not open the floodgates to significant new liability, because the standard for students to prove discrimination under Section 504 and the ADA is higher than a simple denial of FAPE. The question of how much higher was before the Supreme Court in AJT v. Osseo Area Schools.

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