Key Legal Issues for Schools

Book excerpt: School business officials (SBOs) must, in many respects, serve as all things to all people in their workplaces. Put another way, SBOs must be knowledgeable about a wide range of legal issues ranging from contracts to setting policy to state biding laws let alone constitutional matters involving the rights of students and teachers. Aware of the fact that issues involving the law are at the heart of many of a SBO’s duties, the chapters in this edited book have been written by a diverse array of individuals with experience as educational leaders in schools and/ or who possess significant expertise in the School Law. In light of the need to keep SBOs up-to-date on many issues in the ever changing world of Education Law, this volume is divided into two parts. The first section deals with issues that primarily impact on the management of schools while the second deals with the rights of students and teachers. More specifically, each of the chapters is designed to examine a specific area about which SBOs need information. While no single book can ever hope to cover all of the myriad of legal topics that SBOs and other educational leaders must master in their professional lives, this book will serve as an up-to-date and ready source of information to help keep them abreast of the many changes in the ever evolving area of School Law.