Recent OCR Investigations Stress Importance of School District Website Accessibility by Individuals with Disabilities By Kathleen M. Carter Email: kathleen.carter@mhtlaw.com Thousands of complaints are made to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) each year regarding disability discrimination by educational institutions. Recently, a focus of those complaints has been on the accessibility…
Municipal zoning ordinances govern school district construction on school property By Joshua D. Herman joshua.herman@mhtlaw.com On September 24, 2015, the Illinois Supreme Court held in the case of Gurba v. Community High School Dist. No. 155, 2015 IL 118332, that a school district’s construction and use of school property is subject to municipal zoning ordinances….
If you have a website, a new law requires posting certain trustee, council or board member email addresses By Joshua D. Herman joshua.herman@mhtlaw.com The Illinois Local Records Act was amended by the addition of 50 ILCS 205/20, which became effective January 1, 2015. The amendment requires units of local government and school districts that serve…
Public bodies take note, new case holds newspaper may have violated law by publishing personal information obtained from driving records By Joshua D. Herman joshua.herman@mhtlaw.com Newspapers often pursue legal and administrative remedies against public bodies, alleging failure to properly disclose information in response to a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request. The tables were turned…
Court Rules Former Public Employees Have Only Six Months To Bring Suit For Backpay By Joshua D. Herman joshua.herman@mhtlaw.com Plaintiffs are required to bring an action enforcing their legal rights within a limited time after they are injured. A statute of limitations typically establishes the maximum time after an injury that a suit can be…
Requiring Speakers To State Their Home Addresses Violates The Open Meetings Act By Richard M. Joseph richard.joseph@mhtlaw.com On September 4, 2014, the Illinois Attorney General issued a binding opinion stating that a public body that required speakers to provide their home addresses prior to addressing governmental bodies violates the Illinois Open Meetings Act. This opinion…
Change to Open Meetings Act Requires Posting of Total Compensation Package By Richard M. Joseph richard.joseph@mhtlaw.com At this time of the year, most municipalities are in the process of establishing budgets and appropriations for the 2012/2013 fiscal year and establishing salaries for municipal employees. Due to a change in the Illinois Open Meetings Act (the…
By Joshua D. Herman joshua.herman@mhtlaw.com There will come a time for every body of local government that leads someone to ask: “What about Bob?” Maybe Bob is an elected alderman or trustee who has not come to a meeting in three months. Maybe he is the elected official who orally announced his resignation at that…
Every District’s Joint Committee must hold its first meeting to discuss RIF issues by December 1, 2011 By Robert B. McCoy robert.mccoy@mhtlaw.com The Education Reform Act (commonly known as Senate Bill 7) created new rules for the reduction in force (RIF) and recall of honorably discharged teachers. In a nutshell, the old seniority system is…
Recent amendment to Open Meetings Act requires all elected and appointed members of public bodies to receive training By Robert B. McCoy robert.mccoy@mhtlaw.com A recent amendment to the Open Meetings Act, which becomes effective January 1, 2012, requires all elected or appointed members of a public body to receive mandatory training regarding the various requirements…
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