Kansas Association of School Psychologists 2012 Fall Convention October 11, 2012 3:00-4:30 pm

1. Legal Issues that Impact School Psychological PracticeNancy A. McKellar, Ph.D., N.C.S.P.Director, School Psychology ProgramCounseling, Educational Leadership, Educational and School PsychologyWichita State University nancy.mckellar@wichita.edu Kansas Association of School Psychologists 2012 Fall ConventionOctober 11, 2012 3:00-4:30 pm

2. Legal Issues that Impact School Psychological Practice • 1. RESPONDING TO VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS • 2. USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO STORE AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION • 3. INTERACTING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE MEDIA • 4. WORKING WITH FAMILIES WHO ARE NOT ENGLISH SPEAKERS

3. Under the U.S. Constitution, education is not a fundamental right. Individual states provide education as an entitlement.

4. 14th Amendment to U.S. Constitution equal protection: States cannot deny a person equal protection under state law. + due process: States cannot deprive a person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. right to an education = a property right There must be a procedure in place to guarantee that the rights of the person are not being violated (due process).

5. Why do states have to abide by federal legislation if the Constitution leaves the responsibility for education to the states?

6. The Law Federal legislation US Supreme Court decisions State Legislation Case Law Torts

7. 1. RESPONDING TO VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS • a. What duty to warn does a school psychologist have? • b. Can you carry guns onto school property in Kansas? • c. Are teachers, school psychologists, etc., required to break up fights? • d. What recourse do you have if a student injures you? 2. USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO STORE AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION • a. Is it okay to send records and other information about students via email? • b. Can administrators read your email on the district’s email system? • c. Is it okay to discuss students on social media, if you do so when you are not at work? 3. INTERACTING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE MEDIA • a. Can you be a “Dear Abby” in your local newspaper? • b. Can you share student information with school resource officers without parental permission? • c. Must you get permission from an administrator before you report suspected child abuse? 4. WORKING WITH FAMILIES WHO ARE NOT ENGLISH SPEAKERS • a. When is consent “informed”? • b. May you use the child or a sibling as an interpreter? • c. Must schools educate children who are not in the United States legally?

8. 1. RESPONDING TO VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS • a. What duty to warn does a school psychologist have? When a student tells you of his/her plans to harm another---Tarasoff When other students tell you of another student’s intention to harm---standard of care

9. 1. RESPOND ING TO VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS • b. Can you carry guns onto school property in Kansas? • It is unlawful knowingly to sell, give or otherwise transfer any firearm with a barrel less than 12 inches to any person under 18. • A law enforcement officer • Firearms safety/education course • Authorized by superintendent • Secured in vehicle when coming to deliver/collect a student • Secured in vehicle when registered voter comes to polling place

10. 1. RESPONDING TO VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS • c. Are teachers, school psychologists, etc., required to break up fights? This is not specifically addressed in Kansas law. In loco parentis Negligence --- standard of care

11. 1. RESPONDING TO VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS • d. What recourse do you have if a student injures you? Workers’ compensation “RUN HIDE FIGHT Surviving an Active Shooter” (on YouTube) created by City of Houston with funding from Homeland Security

12. 2. USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO STORE AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION •  a. Is it okay to send records and other information about students via email? “Don’t put anything on email that you wouldn’t put on a postcard.” FERPA NASP ethical guidelines

13. 2. USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO STORE AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION •  b. Can administrators read your email on the district’s email system? Yes---You have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

14. 2. USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO STORE AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION •  c. Is it okay to discuss students on social media, if you do so when you are not at work? FERPA Invasion of privacy

15. Invasion of Privacy “Invasion of privacy is a multifaceted tort that can be committed in four different ways: (a) appropriation or use of a person’s name or likeness for gain, such as using the name of a movie star to promote a product without permission; (b) unreasonable intrusion on the seclusion of another; (c) unreasonable publication of private facts about another---the unreasonable publication must involve public disclosure of private facts, and the matter made public must be highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities (the truth of the private facts is not a defense); (d) unreasonable publication that places another in a false light in the public eye.” (Imber & Van Geel, 2010, p. 277)

16. 3. INTERACTING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE MEDIA • a. Can you be a “Dear Abby” in your local newspaper? FERPA APA ethics

17. 3. INTERACTING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE MEDIA • b. Can you share student information with school resource officers without parental permission? FERPA: Yes: health or safety emergency Yes: subpoena or judicial order No: emergency preparation activities

18. 3. INTERACTING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE MEDIA • c. Must you get permission from an administrator before you report suspected child abuse? NO NO NO

19. 4. WORKING WITH FAMILIES WHO ARE NOT ENGLISH SPEAKERS • a. When is consent “informed”? “Informed consent means that the person giving consent has the legal authority to make a consent decision, a clear understanding of what it is he or she is consenting to, and that his or her consent is freely given and may be withdrawn without prejudice.”(Jacob, Decker, & Hartshorne, 2011, p. 266)

20. How much understanding of English is “enough” to understand what you are consenting to? 25% ? 40% ? 50% ? 75% ? 85% ? 90% ?

21. 4. WORKING WITH FAMILIES WHO ARE NOT ENGLISH SPEAKERS • b. May you use the child or a sibling as an interpreter? Not advisable

22. 4. WORKING WITH FAMILIES WHO ARE NOT ENGLISH SPEAKERS • c. Must schools educate children who are not in the United States legally? YES

23. Response Via Email(Julio Torres) - 10/09/2012 09:49 AM Thank you for contacting the United States Department of Education. In 1982, the Supreme Court in Plyler vs. Doe (457 U.S. 202), ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from denying a free public education to undocumented immigrant children regardless of their immigrant status. The court emphatically declared that school systems are not agents for enforcing immigration law, and determined that the burden that undocumented aliens may place on school districts is not an acceptable argument for excluding or denying educational service to any student. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people from discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. Title VI states that: "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."  

24. Among the sources used to prepare this presentation were the following: Bloomfield, D.C. (2012). American public education law primer (2nd ed.). New York: Peter Lang. Imber, M., & van Geel, T. (2010). A teacher’s guide to education law (4th ed.). New York: Routledge. Jacob, S., Decker, D.M., & Hartshorne, T.S. (2011). Ethics and law for school psychologists (6th ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Lawrence, R. (2007). School crime and juvenile justice (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Merrell, K.W., Ervin, R.A., & Peacock, G.G. (2012). School psychology for the 21st century: Foundations and practices (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.

25. Other good information: • The website of the U.S. Department of Education (www.ed.gov) has copies of numerous laws; information sheets for parents in several languages; and a question-submission option. • Watch the award-winning video, “RUN HIDE FIGHT Surviving an Active Shooter” (on YouTube), created by the City of Houston with funding from Homeland Security.