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Upon completion of a Master of Education in Educational Administration and a Principal certification, I hope to a Fine Arts Coordinator for a District or an secondary Assistant Principal in High School or Middle School. Ideally, I'd prefer to be a Fine Arts Coordinator to help build the Arts in districts and help create and promote programs where students can thrive in the Arts.

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Top Five Things Learned  a Current Professional.

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Top Five Things Learned  a Current Professional.

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I spoke with an Associate Principal at Taylor High School, Chelsey Ellison, about legal and ethical issues that impact her role.

1. With the current shifting landscape of of Special Education within the state of Texas, High Schools are consistently having to adjust their Special Education programs to adhere to the law. This can include building strategic plans for transitioning students from 504 to Special Education.

2. School Policy and rules can be used not only to help the school run efficiently day to day, but also to deter future legal or ethical issues. A recent addition of a Zero Tolerance policy in regards to cell phones in the classroom was created to ensure the prevention of future legal or ethical issues dealing with social media and privacy.

3. Despite being settled in 1994, Doe v Taylor is a court case that still has wide ranging implications on administration today. By holding administration accountable for inaction taken against employees engaging in immoral and/or unethical behavior in regards to students, this properly addresses a violation of the student's Fourteenth Amendment right to Due Process.

4. While having a wide range of powers within the school, administration must still consider and address any possible Due Process rights violation when dealing with situations involving students and/or staff members.

5. Administration goes through a legal update every summer and it typically contains a large amount of law changes and adjustments. These are then implemented by campus or district wide. This summer there were a lot of updates on Special Education within the state of Texas.

(C. Ellison, personal communication, August 21, 2018)

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Exploration Option 2 - National School Boards Association (NSBA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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Exploration Option 2 - National School Boards Association (NSBA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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In looking through the NSBA website for Legal and Ethical issues, I noticed that when comparing School Safety and Student Rights seem to both focus on bullying in school. You could surmise from this that the NSBA sees bullying as a central issue where schools are challenged in both matters.
It's interesting to think that the wave of gun violence within American schools could simply be related mainly to bullying. NSBA looks to help school districts with tools to help fight bullying on their campuses.
The NSBA also had a focus on the rights for education of all students, regardless of immigration status. This issue is very current and will affect all schools within the US.

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Legal Issues for School Districts Related to the Education of Undocumented Children | National School Boards Association

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As students go back to school, schools prepare for unaccompanied undocumented children. Watch Francisco Negron, General Counsel, National School Boards Association discuss the issue on Fox & Friends on Aug. 11, 2014.

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Exploration Option 2 - National Education Association (NEA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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Exploration Option 2 - National Education Association (NEA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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The National Education Association (NEA) seemed to have a heavy focus on advocacy and action when looking at the individual rights of students. They had guides and information for ways to build education of the topics within your community.
They also had a section for guides on talking to students about gun violence and mass shootings. This included step by step instructions for easy ways to help students, as well as more resources to help schools and their communities.

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Reassure children that they are safe. Emphasize that schools are very safe. Validate their feelings. Explain that all feelings are okay when a tragedy occurs. Let children talk about their feelings, help put them into perspective, and assist them in expressing these feelings appropriately.

Create time to listen and be available to talk. Let their questions be your guide as to how much information to provide. Be patient. Children and youth do not always talk about their feelings readily. Watch for clues that they may want to talk, such as hovering around while you do the dishes or yard work. Some children prefer writing, playing music, or doing an art project as an outlet. Young children may need concrete activities (such as drawing, looking at picture books, or imaginative play) to help them identify and express their feelings. Keep your explanations developmentally appropriate.

Early elementary school children need brief, simple information that should be balanced with reassurances that their school and homes are safe and that adults are there to protect them. Give simple examples of school safety like reminding children about exterior doors being locked, child monitoring efforts on the playground, and emergency drills practiced during the school day.

Upper elementary and early middle school children will be more vocal in asking questions about whether they truly are safe and what is being done at their school. They may need assistance separating reality from fantasy. Discuss efforts of school and community leaders to provide safe schools.

Upper middle school and high school students will have strong and varying opinions about the causes of violence in schools and society. They will share concrete suggestions about how to make school safer and how to prevent tragedies in society. Emphasize the role that students have in maintaining safe schools by following school safety guidelines (e.g. not providing building access to strangers, reporting strangers on campus, reporting threats to the school safety made by students or community members, etc.), communicating any personal safety concerns to school administrators, and accessing support for emotional needs.

Review school safety procedures. This should include procedures and safeguards at school and at home. Help children identify at least one adult at school and in the community to whom they go if they feel threatened or at risk.

Observe children's emotional state. Some children may not express their concerns verbally. Changes in behavior, appetite, and sleep patterns can indicate a child's level of anxiety or discomfort. In most children, these symptoms will ease with reassurance and time. However, some children may be at risk for more intense reactions. Children who have had a past traumatic experience or personal loss, suffer from depression or other mental illness, or with special needs may be at greater risk for severe reactions than others. Seek the help of mental health professional right away if you are at all concerned.

Limit media exposure. Limit television viewing and be aware if the television is on in common areas. Monitor what kids are viewing online and how they are consuming information about the event through social media. Developmentally inappropriate information can cause anxiety or confusion, particularly in young children. Adults also need to be mindful of the content of conversations that they have with each other in front of children, even teenagers, and limit their exposure to vengeful, hateful, and angry comments that might be misunderstood.

Maintain a normal routine. Keeping to a regular schedule can be reassuring and promote physical health. Ensure that children get plenty of sleep, regular meals, and exercise. Encourage them to keep up with their schoolwork and extracurricular activities but don't push them if they seem overwhelmed. A lot of these tips can also be applied to educators - to take proper care of their students, they must first take care of themselves.

More Resources for Helping Children Cope with Traumatic Events

NEA's School Crisis Guide A step-by-step outline of what to do before, during, and after any school or community crisis like a school shooting or natural disaster. NEA offers best practices that address the full spectrum of crisis response from how to prevent and prepare for a crisis to how to respond and recover in the minutes, days and weeks following the event..

National Child Traumatic Stress Network NCTSN has several pdfs and other resources for helping parents and children deal with catastrophic mass violence events, includingparent tips for helping school-age children after disasters, which lists children's reactions with examples of how parents should respond and what they should say.

Talking to Children About Tragedies and Other News Events The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) encourages parents, teachers, child care providers, and others who work closely with children to filter information about the crisis and present it in a way that their child can accommodate, adjust to, and cope with.

How to Help Kids Feel Safe After Tragedy It's normal for both adults and kids to feel anxious after such a publicly devastating event, but there are things you can do to minimize the stress and maintain a sense of normalcy.

Incidents of Mass ViolenceLearn about who is most at risk for emotional distress from incidents of mass violence and where to find disaster-related resources.

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School Shootings and Other Traumatic Events: How To Talk To Students

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Reassure children that they are safe. Emphasize that schools are very safe. Validate their feelings. Explain that all feelings are okay when a tragedy occurs. Let children talk about their feelings, help put them into perspective, and assist them in expressing these feelings appropriately. Create time to listen and be available to talk.

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Legal & Ethical Issue of Interest to Me - Due Process Rights

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Legal & Ethical Issue of Interest to Me - Due Process Rights

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After my exploration of legal and ethical topics affecting schools, I am most interested in how schools take into account the Due Process rights within schools.
I am interested in this because following Due Process is important for any situation. The issues of immigrant children and bullying are situations when the Due Process rights of students have to be considered.

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How the Office for Civil Rights Handles Complaints

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This resource explains how the OCR handles complaints.

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Due Process and Its Historical Development in Education

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Due Process and Its Historical Development in Education

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When a student is claiming that their Due Process rights have been violated, they are typically talking about two very specific situations within schools. One is connected to punishments and expulsions being assigned by the school. Two is associated with how schools group students together for educational purposes. In these situations, the method of classification is typically being challenged. (Nolte, M. C. (1974). Due Process and Its Historical Development in Education.)
Due Process is important within schools because these rights must be considered when administering punishments for violation of school rules. These laws are also important to assure that all students are receiving the education they are entitled to by law.
The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights enforces the following laws: Title VI (Civil Rights Act, 1964), Title IX (Education Amendments, 1972), Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act, 1973), Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and Title II (Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990). These laws prohibit discrimination of Americans on the basis of race, sex, disability and age. If a complaint is filed with the OCR, they will perform an investigation in order to determine if one of the previously mentioned laws has been violated. (How the Office for Civil Rights Handles Complaints. (2018, March 05). Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaints-how.html.) As a principal, it would be my duty to make sure that our campus wasn't violating any federal protection law when dealing with the various student populations.

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Nolte, M. C. (1974). Due Process and Its Historical Development in Education.

Long, C. (n.d.). School Shootings and Other Traumatic Events: How To Talk To Students. Retrieved August 23, 2018, from http://www.nea.org/home/72279.htm

How the Office for Civil Rights Handles Complaints. (2018, March 05). Retrieved August 26, 2018, from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaints-how.html

Legal Issues for School Districts Related to the Education of Undocumented Children. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2018, from https://www.nsba.org/advocacy/school-law/equity-and-discrimination/legal-issues-school-districts-undocumented-children

Student Rights and Discipline. (n.d.). Retrieved August 23, 2018, from https://www.nsba.org/advocacy/school-law-issues/student-rights-and-discipline