A recent federal court ruling confirms that Texas public schools can now face uncapped liability under the National Defense Authorization Act's federal whistleblower protections, even without a lawsuit ever being filed. From reinstatement mandates to unlimited damages, the stakes are high.

Leon | Alcala to Represent the Lyford Consolidated ISD and Taxpayers Before the Texas Supreme Court

The law limits compensation for outside activities of “Administrators” and potentially imposes a civil penalty to the state of $10,000.00 per violation.

If compensation plans are adopted after teachers start their contracts, can districts adjust teacher pay retroactively without violating the constitutional prohibition on gifts of public funds?

Three different federal courts have halted Dept. of Education’s 2025 DEI guidance, though Texas’ prohibitions on DEI remain in force.

School district had no obligation to make payments under a contract where the contractor failed to disclose gifts made to school officials

On March 28, 2025, the United States Department of Education issued a letter citing their priority concerns regarding parent's rights to student records. The compliance deadline is April 30, 2025.

The February 4th "Dear Colleague" letter regarding Title IX leaves little room for interpretation.

If ICE or CPB shows up at one of your campuses, follow these steps.

Use these talking points to discuss vouchers with your board, faculty, staff, and community.

School districts should carefully consider requests from DRTx and be wary of totally excluding protection and advocacy groups from school grounds.

Legal Guidance for Disaster Pennies, VATREs, and a Sample Emergency Procurement Resolution

On Friday, April 19th, the U.S. D.O.E. released its Final Rule under Title IX, a program that ensures education institutions and programs do not discriminate based on sex.

Texas Administrators Charged with Class A Misdemeanors

Leon | Alcala: Five Years and Still Growing

Is encouraging people to vote considered electioneering?

We have received several questions from trustees regarding what a trustee can do and not do to support candidates during an election. Leon | Alcala offers this guidance to board members:

“The right of freedom of thought protected by the First Amendment against state action includes both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all.”

Beginning in 2024, school districts must provide information regarding bond projects to the Texas Attorney General's office who will now determine if Section 45.003(g),TEC’s requirements have been satisfied with respect to special facilities. This is a very different standard than has been applied in the past.

Losing in a due process hearing does not preclude parents from relitigating the same issues under Section 504 or the ADA.

Always require performance bonds for construction projects.

Did you know that Leon | Alcala provides Bond Counsel services? If your district is considering holding a bond election on May 4, 2024, you should be aware that...

Board action is required if your districts intends to designate additional days as non-business days for public information requests.

Plan now to join the engaging attorneys from the Leon | Alcala Law Firm for our series on School Finance – A Legal Perspective.

As preparations are in progress for the start of a new school year, the unfortunate reality is that districts will need to respond to school safety issues throughout the year, including “terroristic threats.”

In a preliminary ruling, a U.S. District Court refused to dismiss 504/ADA claims against Leander Independent School District...

Deon has more than thirty years of experience as a transactional lawyer. He represents clients in all areas of Real Estate law, Complex Transactional matters, and Contract law.

If your district is considering a bond election this fall, you need to be aware of important dates, deadlines, and requirements.

In Fall 2021, members of a community group complained about certain books in the children’s sections or otherwise highly visible sections...

On April 6, the U.S. Department of Education (“DOE”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would allow schools to exclude some transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identifies and comply with Title IX.

A deaf student filed a due process hearing against his school district and after settling his...

We are pleased to announce Sarah A. Reynolds has joined the firm as a Senior Attorney.

In February, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued guidance aimed at helping K-12 schools and colleges and universities determine...

In Garcia et. al. v. Morath, et. al., 122 LRP 29203, (W.D. Tex. 2022) Plaintiffs alleged that they had been denied...

With the intense public focus on library book challenges, many of our clients have experienced an explosion of requests for documents...

The U.S. Department of Education’s (“DOE”) Agency Rule List indicates that new Title IX regulations will be issued in May 2023...

Leon | Alcala Adds Former Orrick Attorney to Lead its Public Finance Group...

In 2021, the U.S. U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B.L. ex rel. Levy, 141 S. Ct. 2038, 2045, 210 L.Ed.2d 403 (2021), which concerned a public high school’s ability under the First Amendment to discipline students for “private” off-campus social media posts that made their way on to campus and were determined to amount to “severe bullying or harassment targeting particular” classmates...