The Principal's Quick-Reference Guide to School Law: Reducing Liability, Litigation, and Other Potential Legal Tangles

The go-to legal resource for today’s principals!

New technology and world events have upended everything we once took for granted about schools, including the laws and policies that govern them. School safety concerns, curriculum challenges, the ever-changing landscape of social media, and the 2020/2021 COVID-19 crisis have made school leadership an infinitely more complex arena. Familiarity with the law is essential to help principals maintain safe and equitable communities and minimize legal risk. The 4^th edition of The Principal′s Quick-Reference Guide to School Law provides the go-to help principals need to increase their knowledge of education law in this time of change. Within its pages, leaders can access tools to help them make better decisions when educational law related issues impact their schools.  Readers will find

• A completely revamped design for easier reference
• Practical examples to help demystify complex cases
• Updated cases studies from 2014 to today
• Guidance on new topics, such as vaping, sexting, student protests and walkouts
• An "Education Law 101 for Teachers" section to help leaders provide basic legal training for staff and teachers.

Written for aspiring and current school principals, this book will answer all the “what if” questions that inevitably arise at least once in every leader’s tenure.

Dr. Robert F. Hachiya is an associate professor in the education leadership department at Kansas State University. With twenty-seven years’ experience as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal, Dr. Hachiya now teaches courses and advises graduate students at Kansas State University. Among the classes he teaches are Education Law, as well as Ethical Dimensions for Leadership; Principalship; Leadership for Diverse Populations; and History and Philosophy of Educational Administration. He joined the team of Robert J. Shoop and Dennis R. Dunklee for the third edition of this book and is now the sole author of the fourth edition.

Dr. Hachiya has presented across the country at several national conferences, including the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, regarding conducting sexting investigations, and in Boston, Massachusetts, on school violence prevention. In 2021, he presented at the Education Law Association Conference on the practical applications for principals regarding the Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. decision of the United States Supreme Court. He has also presented papers or led discussions at conferences for the Education Law Association (ELA), the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), the International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership (ICPEL), and the Kansas United School Administrator (K-USA).

Dr. Hachiya received his BS degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his master’s and EdD degrees from the University of Kansas. He also did post-doctoral work at the School Law Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.