Taft’s focus is developing strong relationships with administrators and school board members to fully understand their needs and the changing landscape or developing opportunities they may be encountering. By doing so, we are able to develop effective, efficient and customized strategies and solutions for public, independent and non-traditional schools. Over the course of time, the Taft team becomes an integral part of a school’s leadership and management.
Few things are more critical to the operation of a school than a thorough understanding of school law and finance. Additionally, no two school districts are alike. We fully recognize this and help clients balance the needs of the school community while maintaining a strong legal footing on their behalf. An important part of the process is distilling complex issues into manageable solutions that fit within the cultural framework of a school.
Taft represents a broad spectrum of School Law clients, including: public, independent and non-traditional school clients, such as local, city and exempted village school districts, educational service centers, joint vocational school districts, public-sponsored community schools, start-up community schools, independent schools and statewide educational associations. We represent our School Law clients on matters involving students, parents, teachers, support staff, unions, administrators, Ohio Department of Education, and taxpayers.
Our extensive labor and employment experience includes handling matters related to teacher and classified employee contract negotiations; grievances and arbitrations; competitive bidding; employee non-renewal and termination proceedings; reductions in force (RIFs); wrongful termination; school administrator contracts; administrative proceedings, including EEOC and SERB. We also handle a variety of finance matters including tax levies, Ohio Schools Facility Commission projects; continuing disclosure filings, election law, local, state and federal funding, and state and federal grants and tax budgets.
Taft attorneys regularly handle matters related to special education; Ohio Board of Tax Appeals; real estate; state and federal civil litigation; school contracts; tuition disputes; sunshine law; public records law; territory transfers; school transportation; school construction; environmental and regulatory law; boardsmanship; ethics; and administrative law. Matters handled by our School Law Group also include evaluation and management of large scale document reviews, including email and electronic discovery, in a broad variety of litigation cases and public records requests.
We have significant experience with representing community schools on matters such as sponsorship contracts, articles of incorporation, by-laws; labor and employment, including administrator’s contracts and teacher hiring; assignment of sponsor; vendor disputes; property acquisition; transportation; athletic eligibility; attorney-client privilege and special education.
The firm has established long-term relationships in the area of public financing for schools. These relationships have been built upon a mutual passion and dedication for the communities we serve and the betterment of the educational process.
