District and COE Legal Services
CSBA’s District and County Office of Education Legal Services Department continued to grow and expand the services offered by providing efficient and effective legal advice and counsel to CSBA members throughout the state. Subscribers receive access to CSBA attorneys who can provide low-cost legal services on all matters related to public education and unlimited access to the online Legal Resource Library, a repository of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), memorandums of understanding (MOUs), salary schedules and legal resources designed to assist members in negotiations.
Year in Review
- Doubled the number of CSBA members subscribing as clients and benefiting from the service.
- Saved tens of thousands of dollars for clients in telecommunication contract disputes.
- Prepared MOUs and Joint Use Agreements for Extended Learning Opportunities Grant Program-funded before- and after-school programs.
- Assisted CSBA members with responding to more than 50 California Public Records Act requests.
- Worked with multiple county boards of education to conduct interdistrict transfer and expulsion appeals.
- Provided legal advice and assistance on a wide range of issues including:
- Brown Act and teleconferencing compliance
- MOUs with outside agencies
- Superintendent contracts and evaluations
- Student discipline
- Layoff procedures
- Employee classifications
- Title IX and sexual harassment complaints
- Board policies and administrative regulations
- Bullying complaints
- Student mediations
- First Amendment issues including religious clubs and displaying Pride flags
- Restraining orders
- Legal Resource Library — Expanded the Legal Resource Library to more than 14,000 documents to help LEAs prepare for successful bargaining and recruit and retain staff.
- Webinars — Hosted 10 Lunch and Learn webinars for Legal Services clients providing exclusive guidance and discussion on emerging legal issues.
- Brown Act trainings — Provided multiple full-day Brown Act trainings throughout California.
- Facilitated district-specific trainings on complaint procedures and sexual harassment.
- Policy updates — Collaborated with the CSBA’s Policy and Governance Technology Services team to produce quarterly policy update webinars to explain changes in the law and their impacts to CSBA sample policies.
- Published the 2024 edition of California Education Laws and Regulations, in partnership with LexisNexis.
- Ethics trainings — Joined with attorneys from the CSBA General Counsel’s office to provide ethics training to over 272 board members throughout California.