Pool Counsel Quarterly Lookback, August 2025: See what you missed!
A roundup of topics covered recently as part of the firm’s subscriber-based service.
Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams LLP is proud to offer a unique subscription-based service entitled "Pool Counsel" to school entities.
With this service, any member of the Pool Counsel service can email on-demand questions anytime on various operational issues related to Special Education or Technology, and all subscribers are "pooled" on the email distribution of the responses.
Here are some topics covered recently:
"Deliberate Indifference"
The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that a school exhibited "deliberate indifference" to a FAPE violation. Pool Counsel provided context as to this classification, in terms of the law.
Funding Issues
Pool Counsel shared highlights from the 2025 Pennsylvania School Code bill, and also broke down a recent communication from the United States Department of Education on funding changes for the 2025-2026 school year.
Homebound Instruction
Pool Counsel reviewed some misconceptions - and the law - behind medical excusal from compulsory attendance and homebound instruction.
Restraints
Pool Counsel discussed the issue of including the use of restraints in an IEP and what commonwealth law provides for same.
Supreme Court Rulings
Pool Counsel shared details of the United States Supreme Court ruling in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, and also considered what impact the ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor may have (or not) on Pennsylvania.
Transgender Names
Pool Counsel was asked: when a student opts to go by a name that is not the same as the one on their personal legal documents, should a district put that name on things like diplomas and yearbooks? And, in a follow up question, a subscriber asked about legally defensible documentation of parent agreement to a student's name change.
Benefits of the Pool Counsel service include not only the ability to ask questions 24/7, but also an electronic "Resource Room," where members can log in to access the full library of all past Pool Counsel answers, searchable by topic and archived by year
To learn more, contact Andy Faust (Special Education) or Mark Cheramie Walz (Technology) or call 215-345-9111.