Governance
School boards operate in public. Statutory duties, community expectations, and open records laws all shape how decisions are made – and how they’re judged afterward.
We advise clients on every dimension of board governance: drafting and revising bylaws and governing documents, board policies, conflicts of interest, charter and authorizer matters, board training, and the situations where the legal answer and the institutional answer must align. We leverage our experience with our institutional knowledge and relationships with school and board leadership to advise effectively when the next governance question arrives.
First Amendment - Speech & Religion
First Amendment issues in education usually arise in live disputes over a flag, a t-shirt, a graduation prayer, a guest speaker, or a parent at a board meeting. They can move quickly and carry legal, political, and reputational consequences at the same time.
We advise education clients on speech and religion issues affecting schools and campuses, including student and employee expression, religious accommodation, and public-forum questions. The work involves assessing the governing legal framework, the institutional posture, and the practical consequences of the available options before the issue hardens into a broader conflict.
These situations need an answer that is legally defensible, operationally workable, and ready to be explained to non-lawyers on short notice. We bring the doctrinal background and the experience of working through these questions in the actual setting where they arise.
Internal Investigations
Internal investigations in education rarely involve a single issue. Governance, employment, special education, and state and federal law concerns intertwine — and questions about independence, privilege, process, witness handling, institutional trust, and reporting structure often matter as much as the underlying allegation.
We conduct and advise on internal investigations for schools and educational organizations across the full range of sensitive matters: personnel and student issues, policy violations, harassment and discrimination claims, misconduct allegations, and governance concerns — under frameworks including Title IX, Title VII, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, and others. We shape our role to fit the situation, whether that means conducting the investigation ourselves, supporting a third-party investigator, serving as decision-maker, or another structure that serves the institution’s needs.
A credible investigation must hold up to scrutiny from the board, survive challenge if it comes, and produce an outcome people can live with. And because the school’s relationship with the people involved doesn’t end when the investigation does, we approach every engagement with that reality in mind.
Special Education
Special education issues occur within a nuanced legal framework that is both detailed and time-sensitive. An eligibility question, an IEP dispute, or a discipline issue can affect the student, the family, the school, and the administrative record at the same time.
We advise education clients on issues arising under IDEA, Section 504, the ADA, and Colorado’s ECEA framework. The work includes eligibility and accommodation issues, IEP and Section 504 disputes, discipline questions, due-process matters, record issues, and counseling on how to address concerns before they become formal proceedings.
This work requires holding the statutory framework, the student’s circumstances, and the institutions obligations in view simultaneously to ensure that sound decisions are made now.
Sunshine Laws – CORA and Open Meetings
Open records and open meetings issues rarely arise on their own. A personnel matter, board dispute, investigation, controversial policy decision, or active litigation can suddenly generate overlapping obligations under CORA and Colorado’s Open Meetings Law — and the legal analysis has to move quickly and fit the specific context in which the issue arose.
We advise education clients on compliance with the Colorado Open Records Act, the Colorado Open Meetings Law, and related public body requirements. That work includes meeting structure, executive session questions, records requests, and the privilege issues that arise when transparency obligations collide with other legal obligations.
A misstep in this area can create exposure on multiple fronts simultaneously. Getting it right depends on knowing the facts — and often on knowing the institution before the request arrives. That’s where having existing experienced counsel pays off.
Education Attorneys
Education Paralegals
Insights
