Before the Monitors Arrive: Auditing Your Use of EAs, Permits, and Long-Term Substitutes

School districts across the country face the same math problem every fall: more special education vacancies than fully certified applicants.  State licensing boards respond with provisional pathways (exception authorizations, permits, long-term substitute assignments) that keep an adult in the classroom while a candidate works toward full certification.  These pathways solve a hiring problem.  In light of recent findings from the Wyoming Department of Education, coupled with a new school year on the horizon, now is the time for districts to review how they supervise and support provisionally licensed staff.

In a recent special monitoring report WDE took issue with one Wyoming District's use of exception authorization ("EA") holders and long-term substitutes serving in special education capacities.  WDE stated the "practice of assigning unlicensed teachers to resource rooms and program rooms must cease."  The IDEA establishes minimum personnel qualifications for individuals providing special education and related services.  34 C.F.R. § 300.156.  Under that regulation, special education teachers must hold full state certification without waiver on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.  A provisional credential authorizes someone to work toward licensure, not to stand in for it.

WDE grounded its position in PTSB's October 2023 Director's Memo, which requires that an EA applicant "shall be supervised by a fully licensed educator" and that "the district accepts responsibility for ensuring the applicant completes all requirements and becomes eligible for full licensure."  Significantly, WDE interprets this supervision requirement to reach any educator without full state certification, including long-term substitutes and permit holders, not just EA holders.

WDE announced that it considers direct supervision adequate only when the fully credentialed teacher (1) prepares the lessons and plans the instructional activities the unlicensed staff member carries out, (2) evaluates the progress and achievement of the students the unlicensed staff member serves, and (3) works in close and frequent proximity to the unlicensed staff member.

If WDE's position sounds different from the guidance you understood from PTSB, now is the time to evaluate your practices.  A few practical steps go a long way:

1. Keep a simple supervision log.  A brief weekly record of who planned the lessons, who reviewed student progress, and when the licensed supervisor worked in the classroom shows the district meets all three elements.

2. Pair every provisional staff member with a licensed educator in the same building.  A quick review of assignments before the year starts catches any arrangement that relies on cross-building or once-a-week supervision.

3. Keep progress reporting with licensed staff.  Provisional staff can collect the data; the licensed teacher interprets it and signs the IEP progress reports.

4. Build shared planning time into the schedule.  A common planning period lets the licensed teacher prepare what the provisional staff member will deliver, and the plans themselves become the documentation.

5. Keep an eye on the licensure pathway.  Establishing a regular system to check-in on each provisional educator's coursework and testing progress honors the district's commitment when it accepted the authorization.

While we don't yet know how far WDE will take its directive that assigning "unlicensed" staff to resource rooms and program rooms must cease, districts should prepare to review their practices now.  We will keep you posted as things develop and share any new guidance that comes out.  In the meantime, if you have questions, reach out to us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.

ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE?? Ultimate EDGAR Academy Is Coming!

For the past two years, the US Department of Education has been led by a former WWE executive.  We're not touching that one — but we will say this: when the person at the top knows how to work a crowd and run a high-stakes operation, you probably want your compliance house in order before anyone starts paying attention to you.

And they are paying attention.  Federal education spending is under scrutiny like never before, and the cost of getting grant compliance wrong — unallowable expenses, procurement missteps, missed obligation deadlines — has gone from "uncomfortable audit finding" to "very bad news very fast."

At KSB, we know when to call in a tag team partner.  Federal grant compliance is one of those areas where the rules run deep enough that we regularly bring in specialists ourselves — and we have a great one.

KSB School Law and the Nebraska Department of Education, Office of Special Education have joined forces to bring the EDGAR Academy to Nebraska on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 — and you don't have to be a KSB client to attend.  (You're welcome, everyone.)

You'll spend the day with Tiffany Kesslar of The Bruman Group, who has worked with schools and state education agencies across the country and has a rare gift: she makes the boring interesting, the complex understandable, and the theoretical actionable.  The Bruman Group has been a go-to name in federal education law and grants management for over 45 years, and Tiffany is the real deal.

Training runs 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Nebraska Department of Education's building in Lincoln.  At $610 per person, attendees walk away with a thorough grounding in EDGAR and Uniform Guidance principles, cost allowability, procurement and inventory processes, and obligation timelines — plus coverage of the regulatory updates that took effect July 1, 2025, and proposed changes released May 29, 2026.  Oh, and a copy of the Administrator's Handbook on EDGAR.  (It's a page-turner.  Sort of.)

Nobody's getting hit with a folding chair — but by 3:00 PM, your head will be full of the kind of federal grant knowledge that actually keeps auditors at bay.

This one is especially well-timed for business managers and federal program staff in Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Kansas.  For registration and more information, visit the following link.  In the meantime, if you have questions, you know where to reach us: ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.

Before the Monitors Arrive: Auditing Your Use of EAs, Permits, and Long-Term Substitutes

School districts across the country face the same math problem every fall: more special education vacancies than fully certified applicants.  State licensing boards respond with provisional pathways (exception authorizations, permits, long-term substitute assignments) that keep an adult in the classroom while a candidate works toward full certification.  These pathways solve a hiring problem.  In light of recent findings from special monitoring, coupled with a new school year on the horizon, now is the time for districts to review how they supervise and support provisionally licensed staff.

In a recent special monitoring report, the Wyoming Department of Education (“WDE”) took issue with a Wyoming District's use of exception authorization ("EA") holders and long-term substitutes serving in special education capacities.  WDE stated the "practice of assigning unlicensed teachers to resource rooms and program rooms must cease."  The IDEA establishes minimum personnel qualifications for individuals providing special education and related services.  34 C.F.R. § 300.156.  Under that regulation, special education teachers must hold full state certification without waiver on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.  A provisional credential authorizes someone to work toward licensure, not to stand in for it.

WDE grounded its position in PTSB's October 2023 Director's Memo, which requires that an EA applicant "shall be supervised by a fully licensed educator" and that "the district accepts responsibility for ensuring the applicant completes all requirements and becomes eligible for full licensure."  Significantly, WDE interprets this supervision requirement to reach any educator without full state certification, including long-term substitutes and permit holders, not just EA holders.

WDE considers direct supervision adequate only when the fully credentialed teacher (1) prepares the lessons and plans the instructional activities the unlicensed staff member carries out, (2) evaluates the progress and achievement of the students the unlicensed staff member serves, and (3) works in close and frequent proximity to the unlicensed staff member.

If WDE's position sounds different from the guidance you understood from PTSB, now is the time to evaluate your practices.  A few practical steps go a long way:

1. Keep a simple supervision log.  A brief weekly record of who planned the lessons, who reviewed student progress, and when the licensed supervisor worked in the classroom shows the district meets all three elements.

2. Pair every provisional staff member with a licensed educator in the same building.  A quick review of assignments before the year starts catches any arrangement that relies on cross-building or once-a-week supervision.

3. Keep progress reporting with licensed staff.  Provisional staff can collect the data; the licensed teacher interprets it and signs the IEP progress reports.

4. Build shared planning time into the schedule.  A common planning period lets the licensed teacher prepare what the provisional staff member will deliver, and the plans themselves become the documentation.

5. Keep an eye on the licensure pathway.  Establishing a regular system to check-in on each provisional educator's coursework and testing progress honors the district's commitment when it accepted the authorization.

While we don't yet know how far WDE will take its directive that assigning "unlicensed" staff to resource rooms and program rooms must cease, districts should prepare to review their practices now.  We will keep you posted as things develop and share any new guidance that comes out.  In the meantime, if you have questions, reach out to us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.

Gender Identity and Sports: Some (Legal) Finality?

One of the most hot button issues in education law got a lot of clarity last week.  And in a surprise twist, this will not make extra work for your school.   On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases: West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, two cases in which transgender girls sued challenging state laws that barred them from participating on sports teams designated for female athletes.  

So, can states pass laws explicitly limiting participation in women’s sports to biological females?  

Short answer: yes, even if a student takes puberty blockers or receives hormone treatments.  States with these laws on the books (27, including NE, SD, and WY) are permitted to keep them in place.  No policy changes needed.

The Court ruled that neither Title IX nor the Equal Protection Clause requires states to make exceptions for participation of transgender student-athletes.  The rationale was fairly basic.  Title IX has always permitted sex-segregated sports, and “sex” means biological sex, because that’s what it meant in 1972 when Title IX passed.  The Equal Protection clause permits states to create sex-based classifications when they are “substantially related” to an “important” governmental objective (or in nerdy lawyer speak, “intermediate scrutiny”).  According to the Court, the WV and ID laws cleared that hurdle--as would similar laws in other states.

The Court was also clear that the ruling doesn’t impact other related questions.  It doesn’t impact rules in most states that permit biological females to participate on male teams.  States can permit transgender participation, or at least the decision doesn’t prohibit it.  The Court did not make any decision about bathrooms and locker rooms.  This isn’t the end of gender-based litigation, but it does answer one long-running question.  If you have any questions, let us know: ksb@ksbschoollaw.com

P.S. Speaking of Title IX — training season for 26-27 is here. On-demand training goes live July 15:

• New administrators (required): Training on your district's Title IX policy, covering both "skinny" and "full" versions.

• Returning administrators: for "full" policy adopters, this quick refresher on Title IX developments is required; for "skinny" policy adopters, it is recommended but not required.

• All staff (required only for new staff but KSB recommended for everyone): Training on your district's policy and reporting duties, also live July 15. Failing to report Title IX-covered misconduct is one of the biggest legal exposures schools have, so we recommend this for all staff every year.

• Prefer in-person? We can run all of this at a back-to-school inservice — but dates are booking fast, so grab one now. Please email Shari (shari@ksbschoollaw.com).

For additional information and to register for training, CLICK HERE.

P.P.S. Do you know an attorney with a few years of experience who would be a great fit for KSB, even without specialized education law knowledge?  Let that person know that we’re hiring!  

Why Your School Board Needs a Retreat (And What to Actually Do There)

We just got back from our KSB summer retreat, and honestly? We're fired up. Every year we do this twice, once in the winter, once in the summer.  And every year it reminds us why we started this firm in the first place.

We know what you might be thinking: a whole-office retreat, twice a year? Yes. Whole office. Every single person. Not just the attorneys while the administrative staff holds down the fort back home. Everyone. Because continuous improvement isn't a department at KSB, it's baked into who we are. Law firms that leave people behind for retreats, or skip them entirely to protect billable hours, are missing the point. You can't build a great team in pieces.

Here's how ours work: the winter retreat is our end-of-year after-action report. We pull the numbers, look hard at what worked and what didn't, and set the table for the year ahead.  We plan for the fiscal year ahead. The summer retreat is our check-in — are we on track? What's changed? What do our clients need that we haven't figured out yet?  We plan for the school year ahead.  In this way, we’re a lot like boards and administrators who orient themselves in January and plan for the school year during the summer. 

And here's the thing our retreats keep reminding us: growth isn't just about adding clients. It's about going deeper, not just wider.

For us, that means constantly asking what we can do for the schools we serve — before they even know they need it. Policy services. Webinars. Superintendent and building administrator evaluations. In-person workshops.  The goal isn't to be a firm that schools call when something goes wrong (and hope it’s bad enough to make a living). It's to be a firm that helps schools build the kind of governance and policy infrastructure that keeps things from going wrong in the first place. The retreat is where we hold ourselves accountable to that vision.  Some conversations are difficult.  Some are celebrations.  They’re all necessary. 

Okay, But What About Your Board's Retreat?

All of this got us thinking about school board retreats — because the same tension exists there.

A board retreat can feel like a massive investment. You're pulling elected officials and administrators out of their regular lives, possibly paying for a facilitator. And if you're not careful, you walk out with nothing but a very long to-do list, a vague sense of optimism, and a blurry “vision” that fades by October.

So what makes a board retreat actually worth it?

The goal is a strategic plan everyone actually believes in. This sounds obvious, but it's the most common place things go sideways. A strategic plan that lives in a binder on a shelf isn't a strategic plan, it's a document. A real strategic plan is one that every board member and every administrator can speak to, in their own words, without looking it up. If you can't get there, the retreat is actually a great place to build that shared language. What are we here to do? What does success look like in three years? What would have to be true for us to get there? Those questions, asked together, are worth more than any consultant's slide deck.  They all precede the written artifact, but that is where the magic happens.

Don't let the retreat become a complaint session. Every board has things that aren't working. A retreat is a good time to name them, but only if you're also naming the path forward. Facilitated well, a retreat surfaces the right issues and builds consensus around solutions. Facilitated poorly, it's a day of venting with a nice lunch.

Build in some reflection, not just planning. What did we do well this year? Where did we fall short, and why? Boards that skip the retrospective part and go straight to goals tend to repeat the same mistakes in fancier language.

Don't Leave Without Scheduling the Board Self-Evaluation

Here's something that often gets agreed to at a retreat and then quietly slips off the calendar: the board self-evaluation.

At this point in the year, most boards are wrapping up their fiscal year and heading into a new one. The retreat is a natural moment to commit — out loud, with a date on the calendar — to evaluating how the board is functioning as a governance body. Are we staying in our lane — policy and oversight — and letting the superintendent lead? Are we unified in public even when we disagree in the boardroom? Are we making decisions based on data, or based on whoever was loudest at the last community meeting?

Board self-evaluation doesn't have to be painful. Done right, it's actually energizing — because most board members want to be effective. They just don't always have a structured way to talk about it. The retreat is the right moment to agree that you'll create that structure, pick a date in the fall, and assign someone to own it.

Whether you use a formal instrument or a facilitated conversation, the questions are the same: What are we doing well? What do we want to do better? And how will we hold ourselves accountable?

The retreat plants the flag. The self-evaluation, done a few months later, tells you whether you are on track.  It’s also a place to make sure fundamental governance responsibilities that aren’t listed on the strategic plan continue to improve or at least hold steady.  Because a well-done plan can’t include everything.  Maybe your board has always done a great job being present at school events.  Did that continue even though your primary strategic initiatives are to increase staff retention and improve student attendance?

At KSB, we'll be back in the room together in the winter to answer those same questions for ourselves. We think that's what it takes to keep getting better — and we think your board is worth the same investment. 

We can even check and see if Bobby’s mom can make it to give your team haircuts. 

*Schedule a demo of the evaluation platform at https://www.ksbschoollaw.com/evaluation-platform or email ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.*

The Feds Just Reshuffled Special Ed, Civil Rights, and FERPA Oversight: Here is What it Means for You

Your students’ special ed rights are now overseen by a health agency.  Their complaints about privacy and civil rights now go directly to the Department of Justice.  If this gives you pause, good.  It should.  On June 16 the US Department of Education signed four interagency agreements that moved OSERS to HHS and OCR plus the Student Privacy Office to DOJ.  The administration has telegraphed that this was coming since 2025, but warned and ready aren’t the same thing.  There's a lot of noise out there, so here's a clear-eyed picture of what's actually happening and what it means for your district.

The Agreements

ED signed four agreements: HHS absorbs special education and rehabilitative services (OSERS); DOJ takes on civil rights enforcement (OCR), student privacy protection (FERPA), and school desegregation advisory services.  ED retains statutory authority and final decision-making under all four.  Secretary Linda McMahon issued a letter the same day reassuring schools and families that IDEA’s education framework remains intact and “that OSERS and OCR will maintain their independent statutory functions without interruption.”  That's the promise.  Implementation is the question. 

Civil Rights Enforcement Gets Sharper, Maybe

DOJ likely brings a stronger enforcement posture than OCR's traditional complaint-resolution model, and this shift shouldn't come as a surprise.  A complaint moving through a DOJ-assisted investigation may simply feel different from one handled entirely within OCR's traditional framework.  That's not cause for alarm, but it is a reason to take incoming complaints seriously and loop in counsel early, which is a good practice regardless.  This shift didn't come without warning.  Over the past year, headlines have focused primarily on OCR's significant staff reductions, so shifting its functions to an agency with stronger enforcement muscle is a logical next step to achieve the administration's desire to shrink the Department of Education.  The administration launched a joint Title IX Special Investigations Team in 2025 combining OCR and DOJ staff to build enforcement-ready cases from day one.  DOJ recently announced investigations into dozens of districts in California, Illinois, and Michigan over curriculum content and parental opt-out rights, a sign of the enforcement posture districts should expect going forward.  Even if this move comes as no surprise, only time will tell how or whether districts feel its impact.  Traditionally, the DOJ has more muscle but fewer complaint processors.  How they staff this switch to handle thousands of potential complaints is worth monitoring.

On a practical note, if your district is currently in the middle of an OCR investigation, it will not reset.  Stay engaged, meet every deadline and make sure your documentation clearly explains your district's decisions.  If DOJ plays a more active role, the process may feel more formal and legalistic, which is all the more reason to involve your school lawyers in the process early or to get them involved now if you haven’t.

FERPA Oversight Expands

The student privacy agreement gets less press than the civil rights move, but it touches every district directly.  DOJ now reviews FERPA complaints and investigates how districts handle student records, parental access to curriculum, and survey opt-outs.  This administration has prioritized parental rights since Executive Order 14190 (January 2025), and Secretary McMahon signaled intent to clear the FERPA complaint backlog in March 2025.  Districts won't feel this shift immediately, but it does signal that diligent FERPA training and compliance remain essential.

One open question worth watching: the agreement doesn’t make entirely clear who will be responsible for sending student privacy letters going forward.  Unclear lines of authority have a way of meaning things fall through the cracks.  Student Privacy Office complaint investigations have never been speedy and it feels likely that this problem will be exacerbated, at least in the short term. 

Special Education Moves to HHS

This is the move that has generated the most concern and that concern isn’t unreasonable.  OSERS, IDEA and OCR are all pieces of the same special educational puzzle.  Splitting them across HHS and DOJ raises real questions about coordination and institutional knowledge going forward.  

Advocacy groups have raised concerns about the OSERS-to-HHS move, arguing that HHS operates through a health and medical services framework, raising real questions about whether special education oversight belongs in an agency whose default orientation is clinical rather than educational.  Secretary McMahon’s June 16 letter addressed this directly, stating that “IDEA ensures that a child’s disability isn’t viewed as a medical condition that needs to be treated.”  That’s the right legal framing, but the question is whether that holds in practice.  Under the partnership, HHS takes over day-to-day administrative functions, including grant administration, compliance monitoring, data collection, and fund drawdowns, while OSERS retains policy leadership, statutory authority, and technical assistance to states.  FY2026 grants continue through ED's G5 system; future awards will move to HHS's GrantSolutions platform.  At best, this will be a learning curve for a new system; at worst, grant management may become even more complex.  More info on an upcoming training opportunity below.

Bottom Line

Your obligations under IDEA, Section 504, Title II, Title VI, and Title IX have not changed. Students retain their rights, and federal oversight continues, just under a new organizational structure.  The questions around implementation are real and worth watching, but we’re tracking the details closely.  We’ll keep you updated as guidance develops.  Stay focused on compliance, document what you’re doing and loop in legal when you have questions arise.  As always, you can reach us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.

One More Thing While We Have You

All of this federal grant reshuffling comes at a moment when grant compliance  (boring things like EDGAR, Uniform Guidance, procurement, obligation deadlines) is under more scrutiny than it's been in years.  The cost of getting it wrong has gone from "uncomfortable audit finding” to “very bad news very fast.”  We have something coming in October that’s directly relevant and we think you’ll be glad we got it on the books when we did.  More details to come soon…..  

You're Running One of the Most Important Institutions in America. Almost Nobody Knows.

Karen got a call last spring from a board member who had spent several days fielding phone calls about a special education student who had been cursing in front of his second-grade peers.  What kind of out-of-control operation are you running over there? - the outraged parents kept demanding.  “They acted like I personally decided to let this kid start swearing,” the board member told Karen.  “I’m a farmer.  I finish cattle.  I’m on the board because I care about the school my kids go to.  They just don’t understand the special ed laws you keep telling us about.”  He was not wrong on any count.

A new study from the Annenberg Institute surveyed more than 8,600 Americans about their knowledge of school boards, and it turns out this school board member’s neighbors are not alone.

Thirty-two percent of respondents couldn’t say whether their local school board members are elected or appointed.  Nearly half had no idea when their board elections are held.  The public’s best guess for voter turnout in school board races was 28 percent.  The actual number is closer to 12 percent.

Meanwhile, 95 percent of those same respondents said school safety was at least somewhat important to them.  Eighty-four percent said the same about school cafeteria food (the quality of which is, sadly, largely dictated by the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.)  School board election timing came in at 49 percent.

Your community trusts you with the thing they care about most.  They just don’t know who you are, how you got there, or when they had a chance to weigh in.

This Is Not a New Problem.  But Now There’s Data.

School boards collectively oversee nearly $1 trillion in annual spending — comparable to federal Medicare and defense spending.  Board members set attendance zones, negotiate union contracts, approve curriculum, manage multi-million dollar budgets, and make real-time calls about student safety.  They do most of it in near-total obscurity, in communities where local media coverage is thin and voter turnout is thinner.

Here is what board members and superintendents already know and rarely get credit for: the decisions that generate the most public heat are frequently not your decisions at all.  Transgender student policies.  Special education placement requirements.  Teacher tenure protections.  Curriculum mandates.  The federal government writes the rule, or the state passes the law, and your board implements it.  Then you field the calls, the emails, and the two-hour public comment period from a community that has no idea the choice was never yours to make.  (See: our farmer friend above.)

The study’s authors note that public awareness of school board governance is especially low in communities without robust local media — which describes most of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming precisely. The accountability mechanisms that are supposed to connect boards to their communities are running at a fraction of capacity.  That is not a failure of your board.  It’s a structural reality of governing in rural America.

What the Study Gets Right About Teachers, Too

Here’s a finding that runs against the conventional wisdom: teachers support moving school board elections to the same day as national elections at a rate of 72 percent.  That is higher than the general public’s 55 percent.  The assumption has always been that teachers and their unions benefit from low-turnout off-cycle elections.  Turns out teachers, like most people, just want a more representative process.  This is worth knowing the next time someone tells you your staff is working against the community.

In fact, you should consider sharing the study's findings with your entire board at your next meeting.  The data provides a useful point for a conversation about governance and public accountability.

A Quick Aside

We’ve built a board self-evaluation platform designed for exactly the environment this study describes — one where external accountability is unreliable and boards need a structured internal process to hold themselves to a standard.  If your board is planning a summer retreat or looking for ways to grow as a board, it’s worth a look. Details at ksbschoollaw.com/evaluation-platform or email ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.

Before You Go: Its Policy Season!

Speaking of things the government requires that the public will eventually blame you for — our annual policy webinar walks you through every state and federal update your board policies need to reflect before next school year.  Nebraska subscribers, that’s tomorrow (Tuesday, June 2).  South Dakota subscribers, yours is June 16.  If you’re not subscribed to our policy service, you can find more detail about the service at www.ksbschoollaw.com/policy-service-.

The Clock Was Ticking…Now It’s Snoozing: DOJ Accessibility Rule Delay

Just last week we updated you on the status of the Title II Web Accessibility Standards.  In a rare twist for anything involving lawyers, things have moved quickly.

On Friday, April 17, 2026, the Department of Justice issued an Interim Final Rule delaying the compliance deadline for the new web accessibility standards (we wrote about this just last week for a refresher).  Basically, the DOJ pushed all compliance deadlines back by one year.  Meaning independent school districts with a population of 50,000 or more must comply with the new standards by April 26, 2027.  For districts under that threshold, compliance is now required by April 26, 2028. 

Before you mark your calendars, the DOJ also signaled that it might scrap this rule altogether.  DOJ stated that it intends to pursue future rulemaking on the substance of the 2024 final rule and may issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to gather public comment on potential changes.  In other words, the DOJ may revise the rule further, but it has not yet proposed specific changes.

We will keep you updated here on the blog.  For now, the new compliance deadlines have been extended significantly.  If you have any questions, send us a message at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.

The Clock Is Ticking…Maybe? DOJ Web Accessibility Rule Update

Way back in 2024, we talked about a new rule from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding web accessibility requirements.  This rule applies to state and local government entities—including public K–12 school systems.  The goal is to ensure that individuals with vision, hearing, cognitive, motor and other impairments can access the information and services public entities make available online.

When do you have to comply?  The law ties compliance deadlines to the size of the entity.  Remember, this rule applies to most public entities, not just schools.  For a city or a county with its own census population, it’s simpler.  For entities run by larger local governments, they use the larger entity’s population.  For example, if a library is run by a city, it uses the city’s population.  

For schools, the rules get a bit funky.  The size of the school depends on if it is an “instrumentality” of a city or county, or if it is “independent” with its own boundaries and governance structure.  For “independent” school districts, for compliance purposes, the size of the district is measured by the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE).  The DOJ website guides independent school districts to look at the 2022 SAIPE, linked here for Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming.  Other DOJ guidance says to use the “most recent” SAIPE, so if your school is near the 50,000 cutoff line, here’s a link to the 2024 numbers, published by the Census Bureau recently.

For independent school districts with a population of 50,000 or more, compliance with the new standards is expected by April 24, 2026.  For districts under that threshold, compliance is required by April 26, 2027. 

What, exactly, is the accessibility standard?  The rule requires websites and digital content to meet a standard called WCAG 2.1, Level AA standards (2018 version).  If you don’t know exactly what that means, join the club!  It is an international web accessibility standard that the feds adopted wholesale as “the law.”   Its scope is broad and includes:

• Mobile applications

• Social media content

• Digital learning platforms and textbooks

• Online forms, documents, and communications

• In some cases, third-party sites that you link to

Are these rules changing again!?  On February 13, 2026, the DOJ sent a revised version of the Title II web accessibility rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review as an Interim Final Rule (“IFR”).  This matters because:

• An IFR allows DOJ to revise the rule without going through a full public comment process first

• The contents of the revised rule are not yet public

• The rule is actively under federal review, and stakeholder meetings are taking place during this review process

In short, we know the DOJ is considering changes, but we do not know what those changes ultimately will be.  The first deadline—April 24, 2026 for entities of 50,000 or more—remains in effect. While it is possible that the DOJ could modify the rule, there has been no official action to delay or revise the requirements.  If changes are announced, we will provide updates, but for now, districts should plan to comply on schedule.  

Most schools that have contacted us about these rules are already working with their technology staff and web/app providers.  Just as one example, many schools run their websites through Apptegy.  Companies like it promise compliant formats for web content, but schools also need to be familiar with the accessibility rules for things they include in their websites and apps.  If you have any questions, reach out to your school district’s attorney or contact us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com. 

Spring Professional Development: Two Easy Options

If you’re starting to think about spring professional development and wondering how to fit one more thing into an already full calendar, we can help.  We offer two professional development options that respect teachers’ time and focus on the decisions they actually make every day.

Option 1: On-Demand Video Series

Our new on-demand series is designed for maximum flexibility and minimal disruption:

What School Attorneys Wish Teachers Knew: Legal Perspectives on Everyday School Decisions

• 10 short videos

• Each video runs 10–12 minutes

• Includes discussion questions if you want teachers to debrief with others

Option 2: In-Person Staff Inservice

For schools that prefer live professional learning, we offer in-person staff inservice sessions tailored to your needs.  These sessions focus on real scenarios educators face, provide clear guidance, and leave room for questions that usually start with, “What if…”

If you’re planning spring PD, we’re happy to talk through what would work best for your staff.  Shoot us an email at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com to discuss options and cost.

New 1099 Thresholds: What to Know Now

Is that the chill of a winter storm we feel coming? Or is it just the frigid heart of tax season bearing down on us all? 

One quick update to keep on your radar: 1099 reporting thresholds.

Beginning with payments made after December 31, 2025, the IRS has increased the reporting threshold for Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC:

• Old threshold: $600

• New threshold: $2,000

This change will be indexed for inflation after 2026, meaning the threshold will almost certainly continue to adjust in future years.

What does this mean for schools? While this won’t impact reporting for the 2025 tax year, it’s a great time to start planning ahead—especially if your school regularly works with independent contractors, consultants, or other non-employees.  As a reminder, we recommend routinely seeking updated W-9s from those individuals.  Lastly, the IRS published instructions regarding these form updates on December 23, 2025.  They are available here. 

If you run into any questions this tax season, our email is ready at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com 

Cold Weather, Hot FMLA Questions

January brings snow days, icy sidewalks, and that perennial winter question: Does this count as FMLA? Yes, it’s mostly lawyers who lose sleep over it. The good news: the Department of Labor has finally cleared the fog—so, for once, attorneys can rest easy, and you can too, just in time for the next weather closure. (P.S. If you need a quick refresher on FMLA leave, before diving into this blog, click here. We also have FMLA training videos available for purchase here.) 

According to the recent letter from the Department of Labor, when faced with a school closure, determining how to count FMLA depends on the type of FMLA leave the employee is using. 

Scenario 1: Employee Is Using FMLA for Less Than a Full Week

Intermittent leave is only available when medically necessary or if agreed to by the employer.  If an employee is approved for intermittent or reduced-schedule FMLA leave, and the school closes for one or more days during that week, and the employee is no longer expected to report to work during the closure, that time does not count against the employee’s leave entitlement. 

• Example: A teacher takes FMLA leave every Friday to care for a parent who has a serious health condition. If the school is closed on Friday due to icy conditions, the day does not count against the employee’s FMLA entitlement because the employee was not required to report to work.

Scenario 2: Employee Is Using FMLA for a Full Workweek

If an employee is on continuous FMLA leave for the entire workweek (which is the default approach), and the school closes for less than a week, then the entire week still counts as one full week of FMLA leave. This means the closure does not reduce the amount of FMLA leave used.  It’s still 1/12 available FMLA leave weeks.

• Example: A teacher is taking bonding time leave after the birth of a child for the next 12 weeks, and the school is closed on Wednesday that week due to snow. Even though the employee is not required to report to work, the employee still uses a full week of FMLA leave. 

The letter clarifies the following do not impact how FMLA leave is counted: 

• Whether the closure was planned or unplanned.

• The reason for the closure (weather, utilities, emergencies, etc.).

• Whether the school later schedules a “make-up” day (an employee’s need for FMLA leave on a make-up day is evaluated independently).

Here’s to clear skies, calm forecasts, and fewer leave questions ahead. But as always, if those questions arise, drop us a message at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com. 

Before Hotmail Was Hot: FERPA’s Pre-Email Predicament

FERPA debuted in the ’70s—an age of rotary phones, typewriters, manila folders—not exactly the dawn of digital communication. Because of that, FERPA’s original framework didn’t contemplate the advent and rise of Hotmail in 1996 (side note: if you still have your Hotmail account, impressive). Since that time, schools and courts have had to figure out how email communication (and DMs on Facebook) intersects with FERPA obligations. 

Under FERPA, an education record is any record that (1) directly relates to a student, and (2) is maintained by the school district. 34 C.F.R. § 99.3. Back in the day, the concept of an education record was simple; it was the hard copies of information that the school locked away in a student’s file in its filing cabinet. 

Questions in 2025 are different.  With email, when does an email that includes a student’s name or school email address begin to relate to that student directly? At what point does a district “maintain” that record? As recently as April 2025, the Student Privacy Policy Office, the federal office tasked with FERPA compliance, recognized that the Department has not “issued any subsequent formal guidance or regulations that specifically addresses the applicability of FERPA to emails.” Letter to Monogue. However, a recent case out of Nevada sheds some helpful light on this very issue.

In the case Clark Cty. Sch. Dist. v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, No. 89127, 2025 Nev. LEXIS 66 (Nov. 26, 2025), the court looked at whether emails that are broadly stored in a district’s Google Workspace are education records. Even assuming an email “relates” to a student, the court reasoned that emails may constitute education records, but to be an education record, “the email relating to the student must be deliberately stored by the records custodian as part of that student's records.” 

The word “deliberate” aligns with the historic understanding of what it means to “maintain” a record.  It means that there is an intentional choice to “maintain” the email, as defined by policy.  Emails that exist within the school’s email system lack that intentionality and, according to the court, were not “maintained”. The court further emphasized that just because an email mentions a student, that does not necessarily mean the email “directly relate[s] to and bear a close connection to the student.”

Now, even though this opinion is out of Nevada, districts in other states can walk away with a few important lessons from it.

1. Review your district’s policy. The court, in part of its reasoning, looked to the district’s definition of education record to support its finding that emails sent in the ordinary course of business were not automatically education records.  Nowadays, there are all kinds of records (i.e., attendance and discipline file, grade books, student support services folder, etc.). Your policy should focus on what it means to “maintain” a record, rather than focusing on the type of record. 

2. Routine storage in email servers/databases is not the same as intentional maintenance, assuming your policy defines maintain appropriately. It may be helpful to chat with your tech person to understand better the life of an email in your district’s digital domain.  Clarify with staff what it means to “maintain” records based on your policy. 

3. Emails CAN be education records, even if not specifically identified in your district’s policy. Whether an email is an education record comes down to that fundamental definition: it must (1) directly relate to the student and (2) be maintained. There may be instances where an email (for example, an email sent by an administrator documenting a disciplinary incident and saved in a student’s disciplinary file) is an education record. 

As always, if you have questions, email us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com, and we may or may not promise that your email will become part of your KSB education record. 

PPACA Reporting 2025: The “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for… Paperwork?

Just as the holiday season brings its annual flurry of festivities, so too does the other seasonal tradition you know well: PPACA reporting.  Administrators--if your business officials have attended the PPACA reporting workshop before, they also received an email from Shari, but you should forward this on to them just in case.  If you have a new business official, share this like it’s hot.

While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) reporting obligations are more than a decade old, they continue to be a source of confusion, especially for those who only dust off the requirements once a year.  Luckily, the 2025 reporting year brings only modest changes, but still enough updates and reminders to justify a fresh review of your processes before you’re buried under a blizzard of 1095-Cs.

Below is a summary of what school districts need to know as we head into 2025 and an invitation to join us for our annual PPACA webinar, where we’ll walk through everything in detail.

What’s New (or Newly Important) for 2025?

1. Electronic Filing Threshold Remains Low

As of last year, the IRS permanently lowered the electronic filing threshold to 10 forms total across all information returns combined.  That means nearly every school district will be required to file 1094-C/1095-C forms electronically.  Now is the time to double-check with your accounting software provider regarding end of the year trainings and verify that your login information works for the IRS AIR system.  

2. Continued Enforcement of Good-Faith Relief Expiration

The IRS has not reinstated good-faith penalty relief.  This means errors in coding or late submissions can result in significant penalties.  Because the IRS is increasingly using automated matching systems to identify discrepancies, accuracy matters more than ever.

3. Affordability Percentage

In 2025, the PPACA affordability threshold is 9.02% of household income.  The IRS recently released the 2026 threshold which is 9.96%.  School districts should review employee premium contributions to confirm compliance.  In the webinar, we’ll explain how these thresholds apply to plans like schools and ESUs have in place, where the insurance year changes over in the middle of the calendar year.

Join Us: Annual PPACA Update & Reporting Webinar

Just as holiday decorations reappear each year, so does PPACA reporting season.  To help ease the process, Bobby and Sara will once again host the Annual PPACA Webinar. We will cover annual reporting requirements, common mistakes we see our clients make annually, a legal update for 2025, and what to look for in 2026.

Date and Time: Wednesday, December 17, 2025 from 9:00-12:00

Where: The webinar will be conducted via Zoom, and all participants will be able to ask questions during and after the presentation.  All registrants will receive a copy of the slides, materials used in the webinar, and this year’s version of the instructions and forms, plus IRS documents establishing affordability, reporting deadlines, etc.

Cost: The cost will be $350 per school.

Register here. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com or 402-804-8000.

Before You Hit Send

As the school year continues to march forward, sometimes it becomes tempting to want to rage reply to a coach who continues to bother you about the booster club tailgate loosen up email practices. We figured now is as good a time as ever to highlight a few basic email reminders that we have seen creeping up as issues for some. While this may seem like a strange topic for lawyers to blog about, we have been in too many cases where well-intended board members, administrators, teachers, and other employees would really like a do-over on communications they sent.

Double Check the Recipients and Attachments

Accidentally hitting “Reply All” or attaching the wrong document is more common than you think and can lead to real FERPA or confidentiality headaches, open meetings issues, and more. Double-check those attachments and give your “To,” “CC,” and “BCC” the once-over. 

Emails Have a Long Shelf Life

Emails sent from school district and service agency or cooperative accounts (and sometimes even personal accounts if used for school business) can be subject to public records requests, discovery, state complaint documentation submission requirements, or internal review. Writing with that in mind helps you stay compliant and protects both you and your district or service agency/cooperative. Always write an email with the thought that it might be read by the Department of Education, an external investigator, and a hearing officer. 

Once You Hit Send, It Is Out of Your Control 

Sometimes emails can take on a life of their own. Once we send something, the recipient has the power to forward and disseminate (even if they shouldn’t) as they see fit. Start from the premise that every email you write could be forwarded, and ask yourself, “Would I be comfortable with this being shared at a board meeting, news outlets, or on Facebook?” If the topic is especially frustrating or contentious, a good practice is to draft the email, but then hold off on sending right away. Get a cup of coffee, walk around the building, and then come back and revisit what you drafted. It’s never a good idea to fire off a quick response in the so-called “heat of the moment.” Give yourself a chance to reflect on whether your email is professional and educationally appropriate before you hit “send.” This is especially true when dealing with difficult situations where you may be close to implementing a “communication diet” or even a ban-and-bar letter. Looking reasonable in all communications up to that point is helpful.

These may seem obvious, but trust us, we get that it’s easy to let the hecticness of all the other aspects of your job push some of these considerations to the side. With that being said, feel free to send your most ready to be forwarded to the world questions to ksb@ksbschoollaw.com. 

Just a quick note: unless your district is already a KSB client, reaching out doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship, and you’ll want to skip any confidential or privileged details in your first message. Once you’re a client however, venting to your attorney (and only your attorney) in an email is the only safe space to vent.  

The Life of a Showgirl: Keeping Student Records Out of the Spotlight

Ever since Taylor dropped The Life of a Showgirl, our office chat hasn’t known peace. The “youth” (minus Jordan but including Bobby) are big fans, while the “olds” (non-derogatory) seem not to understand the cultural importance that is unfolding. But amid all the debate, we found a theme worth borrowing: knowing when to step out of the spotlight. That’s a lesson worth remembering when it comes to student records and a district’s obligations under FERPA. 

Here a few quick FERPA reminders: 

1. FERPA Doesn’t Forbid All Disclosures — Just Unauthorized Ones. Schools can share information without consent only if an exception applies, such as with school officials who have a legitimate educational interest, during health or safety emergencies, or under court orders. When in doubt, pause before sharing and check if an exception applies.

2. Surveillance Videos Can Be Education Records. If a school video is retrieved or used for discipline or maintained in a student’s file, it may become an education record subject to FERPA. Parents may view such videos if redacting other students is impossible without destroying the meaning.

3. Staff Conversations Count. Sharing information from education records in a verbal comment can violate FERPA if it’s shared with someone who lacks a legitimate educational interest or another applicable exception. Confidentiality applies to conversations about protected information as well as documents.

4. Confidentiality Extends Beyond Staff — Train Volunteers and Chaperones. Parent chaperones, tutors, community coaches, and volunteers often see or hear sensitive information during school activities. Provide brief FERPA, IDEA, and 504/ADA privacy training before things like field trips or volunteer events to prevent unintentional disclosures or “gossip” that can violate student confidentiality. 

Looking for a quick training solution? We have a free seven minute training video you can show volunteers and chaperones on FERPA available here.  As always, if you have any questions or want to talk training options (Section 504, IDEA, specific coaching and substitute teacher trainings, etc.), feel free to reach out to your favorite showgirls (ok–that’s a stretch) at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com. 

Ps. With administrators and board members often rotating roles, it’s easy for key updates to slip through the cracks. Make sure your entire leadership team stays in the loop, forward this post to them, or better yet, ensure every administrator and board member is subscribed to the KSB Blog. That way, no matter who’s in the seat, everyone stays informed.

New faces on your board or admin team? Share this post and encourage them to subscribe! It only takes a moment—just click this link and enter your information in the boxes on the right-hand side of the page.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act: A School Business Manager's Guide to Overtime Deductions

In the last couple weeks, we have presented at both Labor Relations and SDASBO about the hot topics surrounding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. We received countless questions regarding the new reporting for overtime compensation and promised a blog post. Here it is! 

Understanding Qualified Overtime Compensation

Under the new law, employees may deduct up to $12,500 of qualified overtime compensation annually ($25,000 for joint filers) starting with overtime earned on or after January 1, 2025. However, it's essential to note that this deduction applies only to the "premium" portion of overtime pay, the additional amount paid above an employee's regular hourly rate, typically the "half" in a "time-and-a-half" scenario. For instance, if an employee's standard hourly rate is $20 and they earn $30 during overtime hours, the $10 difference is considered qualified overtime compensation.

To qualify, the overtime must be:

• Required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Only overtime mandated under Section 7 of the FLSA is eligible.

• Reported on IRS Forms: Overtime pay must be reported on Form W-2

The IRS released information about the “no tax on overtime” here. It's important to remember that while the deduction reduces federal income tax liability, the overtime pay remains subject to payroll taxes such as Social Security and Medicare.

Reporting Requirements for Employers

For the 2025 tax year, the IRS has provided transition relief, allowing employers to use a reasonable method to approximate the amount of qualified overtime compensation for reporting purposes. While the 2025 W-2 form will remain unchanged, the 2026 form will be revised. Here is what the IRS published. For 2025, employers are required to report the overtime information on Form W-2 using code "TT" in Box 12.

Accounting Software

Now is the time to reach out to your accounting software provider to determine what updates will be in place for compliance. We know many but not all schools work with SUI.  According to SUI, they intend to provide a report schools can generate that will show the estimated amount for this year that schools can share with their employees. To note, the report would only be useful if the schools had a separate pay code defined and used for overtime this year. For 2026, schools will want to make sure they have a separate overtime pay code defined and used to pay overtime. This will allow accounting systems to calculate and report the correct amount on the W2s (in the designated box) for the applicable employees. When discussing this matter with SUI, they indicated they will review these details during their end of calendar year trainings this year.  If you don’t use SUI, we recommend contacting your payroll software provider or third-party administrator to discuss these reporting obligations for both 2025 and 2026.

If this all gives you a headache, feel free to 1) binge listen to Taylor Swift’s new album to take the edge off or 2) give us a call at 402-804-8000. 

Homework Assignment: Keep Your I-9s in Order

School business officials often grapple with a host of both state and federal law demands, but one that merits attention is I-9 compliance. Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), every employer must verify the identity and work authorization of paid employees using Form I-9; districts must complete Section 1 (employee attestation) by the first day and Section 2 (document inspection) within three business days. Employers must retain I-9s for three years after hire or one year after termination, whichever is longer. If you rehire someone or their authorization expires, such as those employees with work visas, you may need to reverify via Supplement B. 

Why does this matter? The stakes of noncompliance are rising. Immigration and Customs Enforcement audits are becoming more frequent and aggressive, and many employers are hit not for intentional fraud but for missing data, improper corrections, or failure to reverify which can be costly. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” increases funding for ICE, including allocations for hiring new agents to conduct I-9 audits. 

To protect your district from audit risk, train all staff involved in hiring and onboarding and conduct internal audits of your school’s I-9 process. Always use the current edition of Form I-9, follow correct procedures for corrections (never erase or backdate, attach explanatory memos when needed), and store employee I-9s in a separate folder from personnel records. If you have any questions regarding I-9 compliance, please reach out to us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com. 

Invisible Risks: When Substitutes and Coaches Miss Critical Training

Subs and coaches aren’t just on the sidelines—they’re often right in the middle of the action with students.  But too often, they slip past the professional development radar. Training season may feel like it’s behind us, but here’s the hard truth: it’s not.  Courts have made it clear—whether you’re a full-time teacher, a one-day sub, or a volunteer coach—the law expects you to know the rules and respond just like your regular staff.  When training falls short, the risks aren’t invisible at all—they’re waiting to become headlines.

Here’s the short list every administrator should double-check before handing anyone a whistle or a sub badge, no matter how long they’ve been with you:

• Students with Disabilities – Substitutes don’t just take attendance and hit “play” on a video anymore.  Legally, they are required to implement every aspect of every IEP and 504 plan for every student they encounter while subbing.  Even if they’ve only just met the student, the obligation is the same as a full-time teacher’s. Coaches, meanwhile, are often supervising students in unpredictable, less-structured settings—exactly where accommodations matter most.  Whether it’s equal access to play, providing behavioral supports, or managing medical needs, both subs and coaches must know their responsibilities and carry them out without exception.

• Confidentiality and Privacy – FERPA isn’t just for classroom teachers. Remember those IEPs, 504s, and medical plans?  Subs and coaches can only follow them if they’re actually given the information.  Sometimes administrators or general education teachers hesitate to share those details, worried about confidentiality.  But that flips the problem backwards.  The real solution is training: subs and coaches must get the confidential information they need and be trained to keep it private.  One careless comment on the sidelines or a misplaced document on a sub’s kitchen table is still a FERPA violation.

• Sexual Harassment and Non-Discrimination – Title IX doesn’t stop at the classroom door.  Practices, games, and trips all count.  Coaches, in particular, are often the first line of defense against harassment and the ones ensuring equal opportunities across the board.

So, what’s the play?  Our football predictions may invite debate, but compliance isn’t a pick ’em.  Don’t leave your subs and coaches guessing. Make sure they’re trained before they walk into a classroom or onto the field.  We’ve created quick, targeted online modules just for them—subs (Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming) and coaches (Nebraska and South Dakota).  To sign up or get cost details, email Shari at shari@ksbschoollaw.com.

DigCit: Nineteen Years, 100,000 Students, and One Lawyer Who Needed Stronger Coffee

Nineteen years ago, Aurora Public Schools called me in a panic.  Middle school girls were doing something brand new and unheard of: texting inappropriate pictures on their flip phones (the kind only the rich kids had back then).  The all-male admin team didn’t want to stand up in front of the girls to talk about it, so they looked at me—the female lawyer with a sixth grader at home—and asked if I’d do it.

So I did.  And it was delightful.  We talked honestly about this strange new thing called “sexting.”  Two weeks later, another school asked me if I would come talk to students about cyberbullying.  A month later, another called when a student’s innocent Facebook post had drawn a predator to town.   And just like that, student digital citizenship sessions—what we came to call “DigCit”—were born. 

From the very beginning, three issues came up again and again: bullying, sexting, and internet safety.  And for the next nineteen years, those three issues have never left the stage.

The Numbers That Make My Head Spin

I tried to do some estimating the morning after my last student DigCit presentation.  In the last 19 years, I think I’ve done between 1,000 and 1,300 total DigCit presentations, scattered across the five states in which I am now licensed to practice law.  Let’s say I averaged 100 students per session - which is really pretty low, since I think the groups were usually at least double that.  Multiply that out and we’re looking at more than 100,000 students.  

That is a shocking number.  One hundred thousand Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas and Wyoming kids who sat in a gym or cafeteria or auditorium while I told stories, asked questions, and tried to convince them that maybe, just maybe, they shouldn’t ruin their lives with one stupid moment on a cell phone.

Why It Mattered

Here’s the thing: doing DigCit made me a better lawyer in so, so many ways.

In this job, it's all too easy to forget that we’re doing this for kids.  Being in school buildings two or three times a week let me actually see the kids I serve.  It pushed me to grapple with complex legal issues—the First and Fourth Amendments, questions of intent, and harassment law and then boil that down so a seventh grader could understand it.  It made me understand the law in ways that law school never did.

And the students—oh, the students!  Kids never failed to surprise and (mostly) delight me.  They asked smart, probing, sometimes painfully honest questions.  They gave me accurate, funny and insightful answers to the questions I asked in return.  They shared unfiltered, raw and heartbreaking stories.  I am so grateful for those experiences, and I will never forget those amazing kids.

DigCit was also my first foray into what I now call “preventative lawyering.”  The firm I worked at when I started doing DigCit was perplexed: why would a lawyer talk to students, other than on career day?  But walking into schools gave me the courage to see and then build other things that school clients needed—our policy service, webinar trainings, the administrator evaluation platform, and so much else.  

The Chaos I Loved

Being in so many schools so frequently also reminded me of the chaos educators swim in every day.  One minute I’d be carefully navigating the kindergarten lunch line, and the next I’d be stepping over third graders reading while sprawled in the hallway, only to be escorted past high school biology kids who were totally absorbed in their lesson.

I’d see administrators juggling it all: stopping mid-conversation to take a call about a discipline issue, or wrangling a bus schedule for a kid who needed to get to practice.  It was messy, loud, human, and deeply real.  And I got to be part of it.

The Community

I always loved the community aspect of DigCit.  When I visited a school, I made sure to wear its colors, learn the mascot, and tease the rivalry with whoever they were playing next.  Sometimes I’d get a bonus of eating pork chops at the VFW Club before doing an evening parent session.  I always made a point of stopping for gas on the way out of town - to give a little back to a community that had paid to bring me out to talk to their students.  

All of this gave me a window into how deeply schools are woven into their towns.  Schools aren’t just places where kids learn; they are the heartbeat of their communities.

The Road Warrior Years

Doing over a thousand DigCit adds up to a lot of miles.  I’ve slipped out of the driveway at 4:00 a.m., headlights cutting through the dark; I’ve pulled back in after midnight, too tired to even turn off the radio.  I’ve stolen ten-minute naps on gravel roads before walking into a gym buzzing with seventh graders.

Those drives were sometimes long and lonely, but they also gave me something precious: time.  Time to turn over what had worked, rethink what hadn’t, and dream up ways to make the next session sharper than the last.

Closing This Chapter

Now it’s time to hand the DigCit baton to my KSB colleagues. They are carrying it forward with the grit and heart this work requires.  My role now is to be present where I’m most needed—mentoring the next generation of KSB attorneys and standing with schools through challenges that don’t pause while I’m silencing my phone for a day of student sessions.

But here’s the takeaway: I’m so grateful.  Grateful for the administrators who trusted me.  Grateful for the students who challenged me.  Grateful for the way this work kept me honest about why I became a school lawyer in the first place.   I’ll never forget that when we opened KSB School Law a decade ago, the first check we received came from Wahoo Public Schools—for DigCit presentations.  From day one, and for as long as I’m in this work, it has been—and will remain—about doing our best for kids.

One hundred thousand kids.  One tired lawyer.  And nineteen years of stories I’ll carry forever.