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Audi to Host PSBA Virtual School Law Workshop

News Release

Posted on in Events, Press Releases and Announcements

New Britain, PA Managing Partner John G. Audi of Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams LLP will preside over the 2021 Virtual School Law Workshop for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Audi is the current president of the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors Association.

The day’s program will feature four main sessions covering key topics in school law:

  1. COVID Round Two Roundtable: In the second year of the pandemic, schools face an evolving patchwork of laws, emergency orders, and PDE/CDC recommendations. A panel of veteran school attorneys, including Audi, will address the most critical ongoing issues, from health and safety plans to employer vaccination mandates, transportation operations and reimbursements, ESSER funding, and ongoing challenges for special education.
  2. In the Wake of Mahanoy, What We’ve Learned About Responding to Off-campus Student Speech and Rules for Participation in Extracurricular Activities: This panel will take a deep dive into what the Supreme Court’s decision in B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District means for district policies, codes of student conduct and rules setting behavior conditions for participation in extracurricular activities.
  3. Developments in Responding to Right-to-know Law Requests: As right-to-know requests continue to inundate school districts, attorneys on the front lines share the latest news about how the Office of Open Records and the courts are applying the law. This includes access exceptions, good faith searching for open records officers, the intersection of RTKL and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other statutes, and the expanded resources now available through the Office of Open Records.
  4. School Law Update: Who’s Getting Sued and Why? This popular session will cover what is happening in the courts, new statutes and regulations, and other developments directly impacting public school operations and liability exposures.

Audi has over 35 years of experience in public sector labor and employment law. He began his career as general counsel to a union of state workers employed by the Office of Employment Security. From 1999-2008, he served as in-house regional counsel for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. His vast experience touches all aspects of labor relations matters including arbitrations, bargaining, PLRB hearings and related court litigation. Audi served for 11 years as an administrative law judge for the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. He now focuses his work on education labor law, public sector labor law, legal consultation and staff training. He is a frequent lecturer on labor, employment and education legal matters.

Workshop participants will be eligible to earn 5.5 substantive CLE credits through the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board. The program also includes the annual business meeting and election of 2022 PSBSA officers and directors. Click here to learn more about the event or to register.

Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams, LLP was formed in 1995 by nine experienced education lawyers who created the first private law practice in Pennsylvania dedicated entirely to Education Law. Since then, the firm has grown to 23 attorneys who represent over 290 school and municipal entities as Solicitors or as Special Counsel in more than 50 counties throughout Pennsylvania.