Running head: DISCOVERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND SCHOOL

Discovering the Relationship between the Law and Your School

Jessica Quap

EAD-505 Grand Canyon University

July 8, 2020
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Discovering the Relationship Between the Law and Your School

The laws that govern public schools are numerous and are often reflected from the

federal, state and local levels. Understanding the importance of this fact is essential to

performing the duties of a building administrator without legal consequences for actions and

decisions. Knowing policy is essential and referencing the material often insures all safeguards

and process steps are followed as they should be set out by board policy, which is governed by

law.

Role of Principal

According to Slaton ISD school board policy, the role of the campus principal includes

working knowledge of curriculum and instruction, the ability to manage and coordinate campus

functions, the ability to explain policy, procedures and data, public relationship and interpersonal

skills, and strong communication (Slaton Independent School District, 2002). All of these roles

and responsibilities are attached to a policy within the staff handbook and school board policy.

Within the district, any part of these policies that require attention because of an incident require

the building principal to head the investigation, discussions and consequences, if any.

For example, within the student realm of policy, if a student is disruptive in a classroom

and has to be removed by the teacher or an administrator, the principal must provide an

intervention of behavior that focuses on improving that student’s behavior (SISD, 2015). The

principal’s responsibility is to communicate with parents, the student and the teacher in order to

ensure that the student can display proper behavior in the classroom. The principal will have

many avenues of discipline to choose from according to the severity of the disruptive behavior.
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With a personnel issue, if a teacher violates thr teacher’s code of conduct during

employment, the principal would be in charge of the issue just as with the student. Within the

school board policy, the process will be outlined for the principal to follow ensuring accordance

with all federal, state and local laws. For example, if a staff member files a Level One Grievance,

board policy states that the employee will promptly report the grievance to their building

principal (SISD, 2014). From there, the building principal has the responsibility to resolve the

issue at the lowest level possible. As the principal, they would investigate and discuss the

grievance with the appropriate personnel and then reference board policy in order to resolve the

grievance. Their responsibility is to maintain an ethical and honest viewpoint throughout the

process in order to maintain impartiality.

Contained within instructional decisions on campus, the building principal must have a

working knowledge of the school’s instructional plan. Within board policy, it states that if a

disagreement is identified within the qualifications of a student to the special education program,

the school principal’s responsibility is to consult district policy in order to resolve the

disagreement based on board policy (SISD, 2019). The building principal must constantly be

aware of any and all issues on campus that deal with board policy because they are the central

personnel that will consult policy in order to make important decisions.

Legal Consequences

All students and staff, and even parents, of a school district, are guaranteed rights under

the United States Constitution. Many of those rights can be tied to decisions made by a building

principal who fails to ensure that board policy is enforced correctly. Failure to do so will result in

legal action against the building principal. The school district could also be liable, but the
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affected person has the right to cite a law against a decision made by the principal specifically.

According to School Law and Public Schools, Essex states, “School board policies are legally

defensible as long as they do not conflict with the federal or state constitutions, federal or state

statutes, or case law. It is the job of the principal to ensure they seek clarification if they are

unsure as they could face legal action against them.

Decisions and School Vision

Many considerations and people are involved in the decision-making process and the

development of the school vision. As a building principal, I would make sure that the vision of

the school was prominently displayed within my office and the school to ensure that everyone

that has contact with our learning community understands what all school decisions and policies

boil down to. The Slaton ISD school vision statement states, “It is the mission statement of

Slaton High School to maintain instructional focus on academic goals, objectives, and the

priorities that support academic achievement for all students. It is the goal and purpose to

provide an atmosphere in which teaching and learning are emphasized and rewarded. It is our

belief that all students can master the basic skills and become positive contributors to society

(SISD, 2020). The main focus of the vision is to ensure that our students are successful and

become positive members of society. All campus decisions must be made with this most

important goal in mind. Many would agree that the students themselves are the reason we all get

up and go to work each day. They must be at the forefront of all of our thinking because we are

there for them.

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References

ESSEX, N. L. (2019). SCHOOL LAW AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A practical guide for

educational leaders (p. 23, 29). Place of publication not identified: PEARSON.

Slaton Independent School District. (2002). Personnel Decisions. retrieved from

https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/832?filename=DP(LOCAL).pdf

Slaton Independent School District. (2015). Student Discipline. Retrieved from

https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/832?filename=FO(LOCAL).pdf

Slaton Independent School District. (2014). Personnel-management Relations Employee

Complaints/Grievances. Retrieved from

https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/832?filename=FO(LOCAL).pdf

Slaton Independent School District. (2020). Slaton ISD Handbook. Retrieved from

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zuZzh9u-AGxiUbVSgAfQ2EFUnkmCib6p
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