I, along with John Hurd and Chance Giddens, interviewed Dr. Michael Lehr, principal of Troup County Comprensive High School, regarding education law and how it impacts his role as principal of a large public high school. Dr. Lehr has degrees from both Georgia Southwestern and Valdosta State Universities. He is in his second year as principal of Troup, but has also served as an English teacher, a principal of an elementary school, and a system superintendant in Cordele, Georgia.
Can you tell us about the education received regarding educational law?
Yes, I took courses in educational law at both the Masters and Doctoral levels of study. In both classes, the professors stressed that we would need to be basically fluent in both the history of school law, but also thoroughly famliar with key points of the law that would most often impact our practice as adminstrative personnel.
What would those be?
Both professors stressed familiarity with all laws pertaining to search and seizure of student property, special education law, and laws related to attendance.
Do these legal connsiderations still impact your practice?
Yes, especialy search and seizure of students' "property." Many students choose to use their cell phones during the class day. In the post-Columbine school world, many systems have become afraid to take possession of student phones since the cell phones used by students were integral in getting information about the Columbine shooters' identity and location within the building. However, cell phones are also a major distraction from studies and can also be used in bullying and arranging other forms of mischief. I have, in accordance with the school system, developed a plan where both I and individual teachers can seize cell phones and store them in the office until a parent comes to pick the phone up. These students are also assigned detention as a first offense and ISS upon subsequent offenses. We believe the law clearly supports this practice.
You mentioned special education law. Can you elaborate more fully on how these laws are important?
Yes. Many of our students have IEP's as developed under IDEA. My job requires that I stress to all staff the critical privacy of these documents. Many teachers have mainstreamed students in their "general ed" classes so they have access to these IEP's but they must know that these documents are for their eyes only. Other teachers or students should not be privy to this information. The law is clear on this. Also, both the special education leadership in the school and the general adminstrative staff are charged with ensuring that teachers clearly follow the IEP and make all mandated modifications. Again, the law is very clear about this.
How do you and other leaders stay abreast of changes within school related law?
In the past, I often attended conferences in Atlanta and elsewhere. These most often focused on either the history of school law in general or focused on a specific issue within the law--bullying for instance. Lately, with the budget crunch, most of our updates come from the central office's legal counsel who keeps us up-to-date on any changes in the law that might impact each school year.
What is one portion of your job that you wish school law could have a greater impact upon?
Well, atendance has become an area of contention lately. With so much importance placed on NCLB, systems are frequently finding themselves in the position of allowing students to graduate or pass courses despite huge numbers of absences. States need to refocus their efforts on truancy and general absenteeism and make a more clear mandate that attendance is an absolute must. However, it is clear that the budget crunch affects this concern as well. There just isn't enough money to employ extra laison officers to track down truent students.
