Kendra Yoch

Supreme Court Orders New Review of Religious Exemptions to School Vaccines The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new look in a school vaccination case and declined to review library book removals.

Supreme Court Orders New Review of Religious Exemptions to School Vaccines: The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new look in a school vaccination case and declined to review library book removals.

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Special education oversight, civil rights enforcement hit hard in Education Department layoffs All workers except a small number of top officials are being fired at the office that implements the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the employees union said.

All workers except a small number of top officials are being fired at the office that implements the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the employees union said.

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Trump Admin. Drops Bid to Change a Title IX Rule Through Energy Dept. The administration has used multiple agencies to enforce its view of the sex-discrimination law.

www.edweek.org/policy-polit...
(similar effort related to Section 504 is delayed until December)

Trump Administration Yanks Funds From Dozens Of Special Education Programs The U.S. Department of Education is canceling millions in grants for special ed teacher training, parent resource centers and more saying that they don't align with Trump administration priorities.

The U.S. Department of Education is canceling millions in grants for #SpecialEducation teacher training, parent resource centers and more saying that they don't align with Trump administration priorities. #disabilities

The Current Unified Agenda no longer has a proposal for new Section 504 regs. ED has no Current Long Term Actions.

They are planning to get rid of Title VI disparate impact regs & streamline the process to take away $ from schools that don’t follow the admin’s interpretation of civil rights laws.

Schools Sue Trump, But It's Getting Harder for Them to Recoup Money Judges have recently ruled against districts as they challenge Ed. Dept. funding cuts and threats in court.

www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Block Transgender Boy From Male Restrooms at School A divided Supreme Court declined to pause an injunction blocking a South Carolina law as it applied to a transgender male student.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused South Carolina's request to halt a lower court's order to allow a transgender ninth-grade boy to use school restrooms that match his gender identity while he challenges the state's ban.

School's Confederate Name Violates Students' Free Speech, Judge Says The district was the first to reverse course and bring back Confederate names for its schools. The litigation is ongoing.

A federal judge ruled that this school board violated its students' First Amendment rights when it restored the name of a Confederate general to its high school.

Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push Citing concerns about DEI, the U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advoc...

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

“Bathroom bill” aimed at trans people awaits governor’s signature after decade of failed attempts Senate Bill 8 restricts bathroom use in government buildings and schools to sex assigned at birth.

New: A Texas bill that would restrict which restrooms transgender people can use in government buildings and schools is now headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk.

Back to School 2025: Changes to Your Title IX Sexual Harassment Definitions - Civil Rights Classroom Reviewing your Title IX sexual harassment policy, procedures, and forms on a regular basis is always a good idea. You may want to make changes to be more user-friendly, clarify ambiguities, and respon...

Thompson & Horton Civil Law Classroom: Back to School 2025: Changes to Your Title IX Sexual Harassment Definitions civilrightsclassroom.com/back-to-scho...

School Board Sues Trump Admin. to Defend Transgender Student Policy The lawsuit challenges the Ed. Dept.'s finding that the district violated Title IX.

www.edweek.org/policy-polit...
Fourth Circuit precedent supports the district here. The Supreme Court may ultimately decide the issue.

Back to Bayside: Lessons from Recent Cases (A Saved by the Bell Special)* - Special Education Spotlight Alright, summer’s over, and it’s time to get back to class! The bell just rang on a couple of special education cases from the Fifth Circuit, and let me tell you, they’re dishing out some serious lessons that even Mr. Belding would appreciate. These ...

Thompson & Horton SpEd Law Spotlight: Back to Bayside: Lessons from Recent Cases (A Saved by the Bell Special)* https://spedlawspotlight.com/back-to-bayside-lessons-from-recent-cases-a-saved-by-the-bell-special/

Digging in. ED won’t require states to provide data on sig disp (not going to enforce it, but still in IDEA & regs). Does not change sep req for states re monitoring disp rep in identification or sig discrepancies in discipline of SWD. So limited impact on paperwork burden (stated target of change).

Yep, regs still require states to collect the data. And districts to take actions to address significant disproportionality (defined differently state to state).

Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Annual State Application Under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Act as Amended in 2004 In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Department is proposing a revision of a currently approved information collection request (ICR).

U.S. Dept of Ed is proposing to eliminate the requirement for states to report data on racial disparities in special education, currently a condition to receive federal $ under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Comments open till 10/21 www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Proposal would remove federal data collection for special education racial disparities Even if the federal collection was eliminated, states would still need to collect and interpret data for significant disproportionality, experts say.

www.k12dive.com/news/federal...

Judge temporarily blocks Texas’ Ten Commandments requirement in 11 school districts The attorneys challenging the new state law hope that other school districts won’t implement it after a federal judge found it unconstitutional.

New: A Texas federal judge on Wednesday blocked from taking full effect a new state law requiring public schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

The ruling only applies to the nearly a dozen Texas school districts named in the lawsuit.

Ed Tech Co. That Provides Telehealth to L.A. Students Experiences Data Breach Vendor also runs L.A. Unified’s anonymous tip line, putting both sensitive student medical records and campus safety data at risk.

Ed tech company that provides telehealth to Los Angeles students experiences data breach. @markkeierleber.bsky.social reports

Fears Grow That Trump Will Cut Special Education Support Funding Advocacy organizations are warning members to brace for "hundreds" of grant terminations.

Federal IDEA grants affecting special education research and parent support are likely to be cut in the coming weeks, advocates say: www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

AI Teacher Assistants Are Useful but Can Pose Risks in Classroom, Report Finds Study of 4 artificial intelligence tools shows they can create misleading or biased materials for students — & do particular harm to special ed kids.

www.the74million.org/article/ai-t...

Annie and Lakeesha struggle in school. AI teacher assistants treated them very differently. A Common Sense Media study found that prominent teacher assistants that use AI generated recommendations that appeared to be rooted in racial stereotypes based on students’ names. About a third of tea...

www.chalkbeat.org/2025/08/06/a...

How would Trump’s FY 26 budget plan reshape special education? The White House says its IDEA budget proposal would be less complex and more effective. Critics worry about cuts and reduced accountability.

www.k12dive.com/news/FY26-fe...

The Supreme Court Weighs in Again on School Liability Under Section 504 and the ADA Related to Education for Students with Disabilities - Special Education Spotlight Two years ago, when the Supreme Court decided Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, which allows students to sue districts for money damages under Section 504 and the ADA without first exhausting the IDEA ...

Thompson & Horton SpEd Law Spotlight:The Supreme Court Weighs in Again on School Liability Under Section 504 and the ADA Related to Education for Students with Disabilities bit.ly/45UPeDM

ELC’s Universal Voucher Price Tag Calculator estimates the cost of these voucher programs in every state. Use our new tool to see the impact where you live. edlawcenter.org/research/uni...

#BREAKING: In Oklahoma religious charter school case, #SCOTUS splits 4-4 (with Justice Barrett recused), which means the lower-court ruling (barring the religious charter school) stands without a (precedential) opinion:

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

A Gutted Education Department’s New Agenda: Roll Back Civil Rights Cases, Target Transgender Students The Trump administration is subverting the traditional priorities of the department’s decimated civil rights office by making discrimination investigations practically impossible — instead enforcing…

Read the full article:

🚨 In 100 days, the Trump admin has reshaped civil rights in education. What’s changed under Title IX & Title VI?

Join our TacTIXs webinar May 7 (1–2pm CST) to find out.

👉 thlaw.com/TacTIXE022025