Mike & Marc Talk School Law Mike Nitti

If it’s spring, then tenure season must be in the air. The earning and granting of tenure is a unique aspect of educational law, and continues to play a prominent role in the functioning of schools, personnel decisions and legal cases.  Tenure has been around a long time, but recent legal cases demonstrate the evolution of tenure law and its impact on teachers, administrators and Boards of Education.

Join Michael Nitti, Superintendent of the Ewing Schools, and Marc Zitomer, an education law attorney with the firm Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, as they talk all things tenure.

Mike and Marc Talk School Law: Episode 6-Religious Holidays & School Law. It’s holiday season! A time for joy, merriment and for educators to struggle with the nexus of religious holidays and public education and the often nuanced issues of what types of displays, ceremonies and recitals can take place in our schools.  Key questions come up all the time: Can we put a Christmas tree in the school lobby; can we sing Silent Night at the Holiday Concert, Mr. Jones is wearing a sweater with Santa on it, is that ok…wait, Ms. Smith is wearing a sweater with a nativity scene…now  is that ok?

Join Michael Nitti, Superintendent of the Ewing Schools, and Marc Zitomer, an education law attorney with the firm Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, as they discuss legal concerns and best practices with regard to the intersection of public education and religious holidays. (20.04)

Mike and Marc Talk School Law: Episode 5-Public Meeting Legal Issues. Board meetings gone wild! As schools continue to deal with the impact of the pandemic, school board meetings have increasingly become a firestorm of controversial behavior.  What many do not realize is that public meetings are governed by certain legal/policy parameters which must be balanced with constitutional law. Join Michael Nitti, Superintendent of the Ewing Schools, and Marc Zitomer, an education law attorney with the firm Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, as they provide an overview of the legal and governmental requirements for public meeting and discuss best practices that should be put in place.

New Jersey v. T.L.O. has always been the most significant case with regard to student searches by school officials.  But what matters, and doesn't matter, at a time when every student is carrying around powerful technology that connects them to every student and the outside world?  Join Mike Nitti, Superintendent of the Ewing Schools, and Marc Zitomer, education attorney with the firm Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP as they discuss emerging legal trends in student searches.  (17:14)

The recent case of Grimm v. Gloucester County Schools is vitally important in the emerging legal trends related to how schools navigate issues pertaining to gender identity and transgender students.  Join Michael Nitti, Superintendent of the Ewing Schools, and Marc Zitomer, education attorney with the firm Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP as they discuss what schools need to remember while handling these issues. (12:37)

New Jersey has become the most recent state to legalize marijuana.  Many other states may follow suit.  The decisions certainly present new and unique challenges to schools.  Join Mike Nitti, Superintendent of the Ewing Schools, and Marc Zitomer, education attorney with the firm Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, as they look at the new normal with regard to marijuana and the schools.  (18:29)