Federal, State, and District Legal Framework
Tim McCartin
Grand Canyon University: UNV 555
October 8, 2014

The Legal Framework and Its Impact on Schools As schools continue to exist in an ever-increasing litigious society, the framework as to how issues are handled, and to what extent the laws reach, must be understood today’s educational administrators. It is not enough to know that Brown v. Board of Education (1954) requires the integration of schools, or that Lee v. Weisman (1992) upheld previous Supreme Court decisions against government establishments requiring recitations of prayer during ceremonies. School administrators must be keenly aware of the constantly changing landscape which is educational law. The handling of many different scenarios is changing on, what seems like, a daily basis. What is legal to search? When is it appropriate to defer to local and state law? Any school administrator should be able to answer these questions, as well as understand the structure and hierarchy of educational law and its impact if they plan to run an efficient school in today’s society. The United States District Court has two offices in the state of Nevada; one in Las Vegas and one in downtown Reno. There are currently fourteen judges working in the Las Vegas office and seven working in the Reno office, (http://www.nvd.uscourts.gov, 2014). With Washoe County School District encompassing the entire Reno-Sparks area, it is evident that the school district would fall under the realm of the Reno office at 400 Virginia Street in Reno. Nevada falls under the Ninth circuit court of appeals which is located in San Francisco, California. Although, in many situations, districts and states can determine the best course of action for their schools, the supremacy clause of the constitution makes it clear that federal laws and regulations will always trump those set forth by either district or state officials. Over the recent past, schools have faced the need to adapt to changing requirement in the field of not just education, but cursory topics such as food and beverage, testing, and extra-curricular activities. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance (nces.ed.gov, 2014). This requirement, while intended to improve opportunities for women in extra-curricular activities has been shown to have both positive and negative effects. As funding was re-allocated at the University of Nevada, Reno, the women’s track, softball, and tennis programs have shown great strides; however, the men’s track program had to be eliminated entirely. The advent of legislation that is No Child Left Behind has instituted a much greater emphasis on standardized testing and had major impacts on schools. In Washoe County School District students will take, MAP, MCAP, CRT (3rd-8th grades), district finals in math, end of course exams in math and ELA, high school proficiency exams, the PSAT, and the ACT among others while attending school from first through twelfth grades. These testing requirements impact bussing schedules, sports schedules, teaching assignments, and administrative responsibilities. The USDA has also past minimum health requirements regarding what food should be made available to students while at school. Teachers can no longer sell snacks in their classrooms as fundraisers, and vending machines at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno have all been changed over to water and Healthy Snack machines. The food and beverage service has also been outsourced to provide hot lunch. The fact that public schools are a public entity places them under very different requirements in regards to federal law. Private schooling is viewed as a different entity all together. According to the vice principal at Damonte Ranch High School, private schools are viewed more as household with loco-parentis given to the principal or head master. Public schools have an obligation to report to school police and other authorities when students misbehave or break laws; private schools can turn the issue over to the parent and step away from the issue all together. Public school employees are identified as mandatory reporters, while private school employees are not held to the same requirements under the law. Private schools are just that, private holdings. Public schools, on the other hand, are representatives of the district and hold the liability of the entire school district being sued if a wrongdoing occurs. Another issue public schools face that private schools do not is that they serve food to the public. Health inspections are a requirement of any establishment serving food to the public. The administration at Damonte Ranch has made it routine to have every food service area; lunchroom, snackbars, the foods classroom, etc. inspected at the beginning of each school year to satisfy this requirement of the FDA. One area in which public and private schools share a commonality, at least in Washoe County, is the use of property. While the School District does determine the fees which must be paid to use school district property, it is left to the discretion of each site administration to determine what activities can and can’t be held at their respective sites. The State Board of Education sets the requirements for a number of things which must be accomplished at each school site across the state. Everything from number of days in a school year (180), to the number of credits required for graduation are set forth by this body. Just last month, the State Board sent an auditor to Damonte Ranch High School to determine the validity of the student attendance records. Since the state allocates a certain number of dollars for every student attending each school, in only makes sense that they would want to validate the records to verify that their monies are being allocated suitably. Not only do students in the state of Nevada have to obtain 22.5 high school credits to graduate, they must also pass the state written and administered High School Proficiency Exam. Every state is given the right to set their own requirements for graduation. Essex writes, “Through delegated power, the board may develop policies covering an array of legal issues such as, among others, health and safety, minimum requirements for teacher licensure, graduation requirements for students, rights of students with disabilities, and student disciplinary practices (pg. 26).” Some states require students to pass exams at the end of each course, while others, such as Nevada, require overall proficiency. While the content on these exams in sometimes comparable, there are discrepancies. In response to these discrepancies, the Common Core has grown into being. These common core requirements are now being used by a number of states, including Nevada, to measure the validity of the graduation requirements. Nevada response has been mixed to this point. First, they raised the cut score on their long-standing proficiency exam; soon after, they lowered it back to the original mark. Now, the state is writing “End-of-Course” exams to replace the proficiency exam; these have yet to be administered. Although federal rulings impact schools at a very high level, it is obvious that there exist a number of underlying decisions that impact schools and their administrators just as much. If school administrators only focus on the landmark decisions of the Supreme Court, they might miss the requirement set forth in a number of smaller rulings. The supremacy clause of the constitution does give authority to higher courts and federal entities, there are a number of local and state level decisions that impact schools on a day-to-day basis. One might even say that the landmark cases need only be referred to when necessary, but the local and state-laws and decisions should be referred to when running the operations of a school on a daily basis. The foundational understanding of federal rulings, state laws, and district level requirements is an integral piece of the puzzle when administrators make decisions at the school site. Not only is it important for the longevity of their careers, but their decisions can have long-term financial impacts on the district they serve as well. References
Essex, Nathan L. (2012). School Laws and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders (5th ed.). Buffalo, New York: Allyn & Bacon. .(n.d)..Retrieved October 3, 2014 from http://www.nvd.uscourts.gov/
.(n.d)..Retrieved October 3, 2014 from http://nces.ed.gov/