Statutory Compliance

All levels of education, whether public, private, and charter K-12 schools; or a public or private college, university, or trade school, are subject to a myriad of state and federal statutes and regulations. These compliance issues impact every aspect of a school's day to day operations. MacDonald Illig's Education Practice Group is here to guide our clients through the many statutory and regulatory compliance issues that impact the daily decision-making of our public, private, and charter school clients as well as higher education institutions.

Our attorneys are available for your daily questions and to guide you through the complex regime of state and federal statutes and regulations impacting the governance, education, and employment aspects of your educational institution.  We can provide you compliance guidance, including drafting appropriate policies assuring such compliance, on any issues that you face, including:

• Governance issues facing K-12 schools under the Pennsylvania School Code, State Board of Education Regulations, State Ethics Act, Sunshine Act, Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, or issues facing higher education institutions like federal and state tax compliance and contracting and procurement regulations;
• Discrimination and Harassment, including compliance issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 (which does not apply merely to athletic decisions), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
• Employment issues under the FMLA, ERISA, a collectively bargained agreement, EEOC regulations, or applicable Pennsylvania law; and
• Privacy and Disclosure issues under the Clery Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Higher Education Act, Higher Education Opportunity Act.

We are here to assist our clients in interpretation of federal and state statutory law, which often involves detailed analysis of regulations and guidance beyond the text of legislation, including analyzing how courts have interpreted that text. Our Education Practice Group's attention to detail and interdisciplinary expertise ensures that you are provided the best possible interpretation, with particular attention to your specific factual situation. Finally, our attorneys are experienced advocates and are ready to use MacDonald Illig's bench strength in supporting our clients well-reasoned decisions based upon the statutory interpretation and actions taken as a result. Quite simply, we are here to assist you in the complex area of statutory compliance so that you can focus on your mission of providing quality education to our children, family members, neighbors, friends, and peers.