When can parents be criminally prosecuted for failing to send their kids to school? What role do teachers and administrators play in addressing school non-attendance and truancy? In this episode, we’re cutting class to dive into the murky waters of student absenteeism with the case of the State of Missouri v. Williams. While truancy cases don’t really grab the headlines like student protests (or the state of Florida), they do prompt us to think pretty hard about those fundamental questions regarding the role of the state in education and family life. Missing school can come with a hefty price tag. From school bells to jail cells, truancy is anything but trivial. We also discuss the emerging and pressing issue of AI deepfakes in schools.

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When are student sit-ins protected by the First Amendment? How can coaches maintain team cohesion and discipline without becoming draconian? Why is it always the cheer squad? In this episode, we tackle the case of Gonzales v. Burley High School, a fascinating case involving a new cheer coach and some very displeased cheerleaders. This one is pretty wild. It has to do with students being punished for protesting, but wait, there's more! It also has favoritism, retribution, grudges, and a coach's rulebook that reads more like a dictator's manifesto than a cheerleading guidebook. It's got a laundry list of discipline, but it's also got a little youth resilience in the face of injustice. Grab your pompoms. This episode has a lot of S.P.I.R.I.T.

When can schools be held legally responsible for failing to address student sexual harassment? What's in the Biden Administration's new Title IX regulations? In this special themed episode, we talk about all things Title IX! For our bellringer, we talk about the new Title IX regs and how they increase protections for LGBTQ+ individuals as well as streamline investigations of sex discrimination and sexual harassment. We then do a deep dive into the Supreme Court case of Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, which set the standard for when schools must respond to allegations of peer-to-peer sexual harassment.

What is an 'appropriate' education for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act? How many acronyms are too many acronyms? In this episode, we are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Janet Decker, a school law professor and expert in special education law, to discuss Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. This case raised the bar for when an IEP provides students a FAPE under the IDEA. See what we mean about the acronyms? We also talk about recent developments in a lawsuit challenging Florida's law that prevents teachers from using pronouns that differ from their sex assigned at birth.

When can schools curtail students' political speech? Can a student be paddled for simply writing "Trump 2016" on a classroom whiteboard? We discuss T.S. v. Talladega County Board of Education, a fascinating case about a school navigating the political tensions following the 2016 presidential election. This one has it all! Politics, free speech, discipline, corporal punishment, and, of course, Ricky Bobby quotes. We also talk about recent efforts to promote diversity in Seattle Public Schools and a new law in West Virginia that we term a "hydra law" because it cropped up after previous efforts to inject creationism into schools had failed.

When can school officials search students' belongings? In this episode, we branch out into the world of true crime! We go back to the early 80s to discuss the landmark Supreme Court case that defined the boundaries of privacy and authority in schools. We discuss New Jersey v. TLO, a delinquency case involving a search of a 14-year-old freshman's purse that continues to influence how we balance students’ rights with school authority. We also talk about a recent settlement in one of the cases challenging Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, or as it's commonly known, "Don't Say Gay."

How can a school district seek to achieve a diverse student body at its elite magnet school? We discuss the case of Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board, another case in the evolving legal battle over race-conscious admissions and the pursuit of diversity in school admissions. At issue in this case was whether the Board's race-neutral admissions policy violated the Equal Protection Clause by having a disparate impact on Asian American students and being motivated by an invidious intent to discriminate based on race. We briefly covered this case when the Supreme Court denied review, but it was too interesting and too important not to get its own episode. We also talk about escalating and evolving legal conflicts over the curriculum.

When are schools legally responsible for student injuries? What responsibilities do teachers have to keep kids from getting hurt in the classroom? Middle schoolers and scalpels, what could go wrong? We discuss the case of Heuser v. Community Insurance Corporation, a Wisconsin state court case involving (you guessed it) a middle school student who cut himself with a scalpel during a science lab. We also talk about the Supreme Court's docket for this term and an African American student in Texas who was suspended for wearing his hair in locs.

Do parents have the right to opt their children out of a curriculum they find objectionable? We discuss the case of Mahmoud v. McKnight, a complicated case that weighs a district's choice to adopt books inclusive of LGBTQ characters against parental rights to opt their children out of such content. We also talk about a recent wave of litigation where school districts are suing social media companies for alleged harms caused by students' social media use.

Does a high school football coach have a First Amendment right to engage in a private moment of prayer after a football game? What about a not-so-quiet, not-so-private, religiously infused post-game speech given directly to players on the 50-yard line? How should schools navigate the relationship between the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment? In Part 2, we continue the conversation with Richard Katskee, one of the attorneys who argued the Kennedy v. Bremerton School District case before the Supreme Court. Here, we'll dive into the decision and its impacts on schools!