Employee Misclassification: A Caution to All Employers
For those businesses that utilize independent contractors as part of their business model, employee misclassification has become a major issue. It is one that is taking on increasing importance within the United States, as well as here in Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts, employers who are found to have misclassified their W-2...
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The Schoolyard Lawyer: A Parent’s Guide to Hiring a Special Education Attorney
The Special Education process can be frustrating, time-consuming, and upsetting to many parents. When parents feel that they can no longer face the school district on their own, many choose to hire a Special Education attorney to help them. This is an extremely important decision because it involves one of the most...
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Elder Bullying Happens Too
Imagine this scenario: you walk into a cafeteria filled with others who are giving you dirty looks, pointing and laughing at you, whispering things to their friends as you walk by, and not allowing you to sit with them. Am I talking about middle school? High school? Well, it certainly happens there,...
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The Schoolyard Lawyer: A Summary of Massachusetts Special Education Statistics at the BSEA
The Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) released its Special Education statistics for fiscal year 2011 (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011). A summary of the statistics is as follows:
The BSEA received 8,348 rejected IEPs, an increase of 473 over the past fiscal year.
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The Schoolyard Lawyer: New Guidelines for Pediatricians Diagnosing Children with ADHD
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released new guidelines for diagnosing and treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Instead of diagnosing the condition in children aged 6 – 12, as previously required, the new guidelines require pediatricians to diagnose children starting at age 4 up to age 18.
If...
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The Schoolyard Lawyer: Recent Special Education Statistics in Massachusetts
In the 1980’s, doctors could only save 1 in 10 babies born weighing 2 pounds or less. Today, doctors can save 9 in 10 babies.
25% of babies born at 25 weeks or fewer may be severely disabled.
50% will have problems with...
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The Schoolyard Lawyer: Standard of Proof in School Suspension/Expulsion Hearings
When a student is suspended or expelled from school, there are certain procedures that the school must follow in order to protect the student’s due process rights. The student will be allowed to have a suspension/expulsion hearing (in most circumstances) where he/she has a right to be represented by counsel, can present...
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The Schoolyard Lawyer: Special Education Students and the Bullying Law
The Massachusetts Anti-Bullying law offers additional protections for students with disabilities because they are more susceptible to being “targets” of bullying. The law has two requirements for students with disabilities, both of which must occur simultaneously: (1) there must be school-wide response to prevent the bullying of students with disabilities; and (2) the student’s...
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The Schoolyard Lawyer: An App Meant to Prevent Bullying
Cyber-bullying not only happens on the internet through social media websites or chat rooms, but it also happens through cell phones, either in the form of text messages or phone calls. There is now an App meant to protect children from cyber-bullying through text messages.
Word Bully filters out...
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Attorney Andra Hutchins Will Speak on Student Privacy Issues October 4, 2011
KCL’s partner Andra Hutchins will speak on student privacy issues at an upcoming seminar put on by the National Business Institute. Attorney Hutchins will join two other local education law attorneys to discuss hot topic issues regarding student privacy in schools.
The seminar will be held on October 4,...
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Partner Andrew Hyams Testified on the Proposed Board of Registration of Medicine Regulations
On September 21, 2011, partner Andrew Hyams testified on the proposed Board of Registration of Medicine Regulations. He testified that the Board’s proposed amendments would undermine physician licensure rights in several respects.
To read his testimony, click here.
The Schoolyard Lawyer: School Discipline and Special Education Students
If any student violates the school handbook, the school can suspend that student accordingly. However, when a Special Education student on an IEP gets into trouble and is suspended from school, there are procedures in place that the school must follow when suspending the student.
For the first ten...
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