Pool Counsel Quarterly Lookback, March 2026: 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:
Act 44 of 2025
Upon its passing, we shared the provisions of Act 44 of 2025, followed by notification requirements for weapon possession incidents, which included suggested language for when special circumstances may apply.
Act 47 of 2025
We addressed questions related to the Pennsylvania Department of Education's new truancy enforcement provisions, clarifying warning deadlines and offering suggested wording for notices. We also illustrated one of the conflicts identified within Act 47 - when a habitually truant student attempts to enroll in a cyber charter school - and offered a template of a notice of enrollment ineligibility a district might use in response to such an occurrence.
Deep Fakes
With the rise of generative AI and image manipulation - coupled with heightened parental sensitivity around the potential misuse of images - we discussed whether schools should refrain from using student photographs on their websites. Similarly, we also shared response and prevention strategies for when educators are the subjects of deep fakes.
Omnibus Bill
We reviewed revisions to the Pennsylvania School Code that came about when the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the new budget.
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 Jason Fortenberry (Special Education) or Mark Cheramie Walz (Technology) or call 215-345-9111.