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

The go-to legal resource for principals, fully updated!

How often does a potential legal concern arise at your school? Familiarity with the law helps principals maintain safe and equitable school communities and minimize legal risk. Expanded and updated, this trusted resource provides clear and helpful guidance from a team of respected school-law experts. 

The authors give an overview of key court cases that have shaped today’s school laws and then describe how to prepare for and appropriately handle sensitive situations. This third edition includes substantive new information that shows principals how to

• Address student use and misuse of technology, on and off campus
• Avoid the pitfalls of zero-tolerance discipline policies
• Lead school safety and violence prevention initiatives, including collaborating with school resource officers and other personnel
• Prevent and respond to bullying incidents
• Stay current with special education requirements
• Ensure that employment and evaluation practices reflect the law

This valuable reference supports your sound decision-making, helping you uphold the law and protect your school community.

"Hachiya, Shoop, and Dunklee make a distinct contribution to the field. Rather than a review of legal cases, the book addresses risk management. This approach to the legal aspects of the day-to-day operations of a school is a useful planning guide as well as a resource when questions arise."
―Cynthia Church, Principal
G. Stanley Hall Elementary School, Glendale Heights, IL

"The examples, vignettes, and cases are extremely helpful in assisting principals to accurately implement statutory law and case law in public school settings. It also has a unique design that can assist practicing school administrators deal with legal issues but not require the school administrator to become a lawyer."
―Thomas J. McCormack, Professor and Chair of Counseling, Foundations, and Leadership
Columbus State University

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.

Dr. Robert J. Shoop is Professor of Education Law and Senior Scholar in the Leadership Studies Program at Kansas State University. He has served as a teacher, community education director, and principal, and he was the Ohio State Evaluator of Student Rights and Responsibilities. He is the author or coauthor of more than one hundred journal articles, fifteen books, and several monographs and book chapters on various legal issues. His most recent books are Virtuous Leadership (2004); Sexual Exploitation of Students: How to Spot it and Stop It (2003); Leadership Lessons from Bill Snyder (1998); Sexual Harassment Prevention (1997); Sexual Harassment on Campus: A Guide for Administrators, Faculty Members, and Students (1996, co-edited with Dr. Bernice Sandler); and How to Stop Sexual Harassment in Our Schools (1994).

He is also the co-producer of a number of video programs on eliminating sexual harassment. These productions have received national and international recognition, including First Place Award, 1996 National Council of Family Relations Annual Media Competition; 1996 Gold Award of Merit, Houston Film Festival; and 1995 Golden Camera Award, International Film and Video Festival. Dr. Shoop is the 1996 recipient of the Michael C. Holen Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, a past recipient of Kansas State University’s Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher Award, and a past member of the Board of Directors of the Educational Law Association. He has consulted with national associations, community colleges, universities, government agencies, and businesses and educational organizations throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. Dr. Shoop is a nationally recognized expert in the area of school law, with a focus on sexual harassment and abuse prevention and risk management. He has appeared as a guest on CNN, The Today Show with both Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, ABC’s 20/20, MSNBC with Lester Holt, CNN, Day and Date, The Jim Bohannon Show, The Oliver North Show, The Mark Furman Show, The Mark Walberg Show, and Outside the Lines with Bob Ley.

This is the seventh law-related book written by the team of Shoop and Dunklee. Their other books are School Law for the Principal (1992); A Primer for School Risk Management (1993); The Legal Manual for Programming Professionals (1994); The Principal’s Quick-Reference Guide to School Law (2002); and Anatomy of a Lawsuit: What Every Education Leader Should Know About Legal Actions (2005).

Dr. Dennis R. Dunklee is an Emeritus Professor in the Education Leadership Department in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. During his twenty-five years in public schools, he served as a teacher, elementary school principal, junior high and middle school principal, high school principal, and central office administrator. During his more than twenty years at George Mason University, he taught courses in education law and school leadership and served as an advisor and chair for master’s and doctoral candidates in school leadership.
Because of his expertise and practical experience, he continues to be frequently called on to consult in the areas of effective schools, school law, administrator evaluation, instructional supervision, school-community relations, problem solving, and conflict resolution. In addition, he continues to be actively involved as a consultant and expert witness in numerous school-related lawsuits nationwide. As a university scholar and researcher, he has published, and continues to publish, textbooks, monographs, and articles on issues in the fields of school law, business management, administrative practice, and leadership theory. He also continues to present papers at international, national, regional, state, and local conferences and is a widely sought-after clinician for inservice workshops. Dr. Dunklee was an invited participant and presenter at the 2005 Oxford (University) Round Table on Education Law: Individual Rights and Freedoms.

He received his Ph.D. in school administration and foundations from Kansas State University. His major area of research was in the field of education law, and his dissertation was on tort liability for negligence. He holds a master’s degree in elementary and secondary school administration from Washburn University.

This is Dr. Dunklee’s eighth book for Corwin Press. His other Corwin books are You Sound Taller on the Telephone: A Practitioner’s View of the Principalship (1999); If You Want to Lead Not Just Manage (2000); The Principal’s Quick Reference Guide to School Law (2002 and 2006, with Robert J. Shoop); Strategic Listening for School Leaders (2005, with Jeannine Tate); Anatomy of a Lawsuit: What Every Education Leader Should Know About Legal Actions (2006, with Robert J. Shoop); and Poverty Is NOT a Learning Disability (2009, with Tish Howard and Sandy Grogan Dresser).