Episode 3 w/ Ira Weiss, Partner with Weiss Burkhardt Kramer

With a myriad of health regulations issued almost weekly, school districts are faced with conflicting obligations: educate all children, despite each one's varying needs in a remote environment; keep teachers safe, yet working; and close classrooms, but balance parents' demands to keep athletics games on. As cyber-charter school enrollment hits an all time high, public school districts competing against private schools and nearby districts for students [and their tax dollars] face the toughest challenge in controlling their respective futures: keeping children educated at all costs while also appeasing parents. Ira Weiss, partner with Weiss Burkhardt Kramer, is one of the nation's foremost legal minds in dealing with school district-related legal issues. Right now, his firm is representing over a dozen school districts. We discuss the importance of having a robust school district communications plan, especially right now -- "You can't build a plane and fly it at the same time," says Weiss -- and how school administrators should focus on serving special needs populations, or else face future lawsuits. Ira Weiss is a nationally known public sector legal authority with across-the-board experience in municipal, education and tax law. He's the recipient of the President’s Award for Distinguished Career Achievement by the Pennsylvania School Boards Solicitors Association, was appointed to the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s Legislative Audit Advisory Commission, and served on the Board of Directors of the Education Policy and Leadership Center.