Pool Counsel Quarterly Lookback, November 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:
Age 18 Rights
Can a special ed student that is 18 years of age and is enrolled under the McKinney-Vento Act successfully request that a biological parent not be contacted by - or have access to records at - the student's school?
Age 22 Mandate
Should schools assume students with disabilities will remain in school until their 22nd birthdays, because the department of education says they can?
Appeal of Residency Determination
What, specifically, are the due process requirements when a school believes it has evidence of non-residency that warrants the permanent exclusion of a student from its schools? Do the same rules apply if the student has been granted McKinney-Vento status? A sample letter offering the Act 67 residency hearing is shared, and guidance is offered on how to direct related communications, especially when registered letters to a "known" address are returned.
Blood Glucose Monitors
School nurses have, unfortunately, been misinformed on the use of CGMs in schools, but Pool Counsel clears up the confusion.
Curriculum and Instruction Versus Special Education
Should curricular decisions for students with disabilities come from the curriculum and instruction or special education team?
Emailing Student Records
While FERPA - enacted in 1974 and updated in 2011 - does not mention the use of email, does its confidentiality rule limit schools’ ability to send confidential student records electronically?
Evaluative Mediation
What is the difference between a typical mediation and an evaluative mediation?
Forms
Pool Counsel shared an update on the Pennsylvania Department of Education Office of Chief Counsel's previous direction on use of the department’s special education forms, and then, with guidance that PDE's forms are "optional," Pool Counsel offered alternatives to the Notice of Recommended Educational Placement and Prior Written Notice forms.
Home Education Requirements
What actions should a district take when parents want to homeschool their students but do not provide documentation as specified by the Pennsylvania School Code?
House Bill 1121
A new bill being considered in Pennsylvania would not only create a number of operational issues in schools, but also conflict with federal special education law.
PCA Guidance
Pennsylvania is seeking public comment on a guidance document governing the use of personal care assistants to access public accommodations; how does the guidance affect schools?
Restraints
A district shared questions on the reporting repercussions when a child is improperly restrained by either a district or non-district employee.
Transcripts
A high school, unable to obtain records from a 12th grade student's prior school in another country, asks whether this would affect the student's ability to graduate, and a superintendent offers an example of successful adaptation.
USDE Layoffs
How do federal layoffs hitting several departments within the United States Department of Education affect schools?
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.