School District Legal Services

Administrators at a growing number of southeastern Pennsylvania schools already have learned that they can count on the attorneys of Raffaele Puppio for support and counsel in a wide range of legal matters.

Our experience throughout the greater Philadelphia area includes matters of general education law, construction law, student discipline (including investigations of bullying situations), civil rights (including First Amendment, Transgender, and Title IX issues), creation and review of materials such as student and parent handbooks, behavioral contracts for individual students, and numerous other areas.

When we assist school districts with legal issues, we recognize that we also are consultants who are being relied upon to solve otherwise intractable problems. With that mindset guiding our approach, we quickly have moved to the forefront among law firms providing comprehensive legal services to schools in the greater Philadelphia area.

Having a Raffaele Puppio school attorney standing by to help can be the difference between a speedy resolution that’s agreeable to all parties and an unnecessarily adversarial process that consumes valuable time and resources.

School boards and school district administrators are challenged daily by a raft of practical, political, and logistical considerations that often aren’t understood or appreciated by the public. For many Pennsylvania school districts, legal support from the attorneys of Raffaele Puppio in Delaware County is crucial to meeting those challenges.

Our education lawyers in Delaware County represent (or have represented):

  • Coatesville School District
  • Delaware County Intermediate Unit
  • Garnet Valley School District (Solicitor)
  • Interboro Borough School District (Solicitor)
  • Lower Merion School District (Special Education Audit)
  • Marple Newtown School District (Special Education Counsel)
  • Penn-Delco School District (Solicitor)
  • Radnor Township School District (Special Education Counsel and Tax Assessment Appeal Counsel)
  • Rose Tree Media School District (Special Education Counsel)
  • Springfield School District (Special Counsel)
  • Upper Darby School District (Special Counsel)

The attorneys of Raffaele Puppio have decades of collective experience representing Pennsylvania school districts in urban, suburban, and rural regions. We provide practical, real world counsel on matters including but not limited to contract administration, collective bargaining with teachers’ unions, tenure matters, disputes stemming from property and income taxation, assessment appeals, public bidding processes, and a wide variety of issues related to student rights.

When a Raffaele Puppio attorney is retained as special counsel or as an interim or permanent solicitor, a school district can count on having prompt access to responsive, cost effective legal advice and advocacy.

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From The Blog

  • Should Free Appropriate Public Education Be Extended to All Students?

    March 20, 2019

    Disabled students enjoy rights under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).  Recently, in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, the Supreme Court ruled that trivial or insignificant progress is insufficient to provide FAPE under the IDEA. Under the IDEA, school districts must provide an... Read More...

  • The Nation’s Special Education Law: IDEA

    January 10, 2019

    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, commonly referred to as the IDEA, aims to provide children with disabilities across the nation with access to a free appropriate public education “that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.” The IDEA covers... Read More...

  • Technology in the Classroom: Rights and Responsibilities of Teachers

    October 18, 2018

    The increase in technology in the classroom is due to the realization that technology is necessary to prepare students for the world we live in. It has largely been a voluntary effort by school districts, who have the funds, embracing innovative and interesting ways to help students learn. There has also been growth in online... Read More...

  • Medical Marijuana Use at Schools In Pennsylvania

    October 12, 2017

    Following the enactment of Act 16 of 2016, also known as the Medical Marijuana Act, the use of certain forms of marijuana (termed “medical marijuana”) has become legal in Pennsylvania for certain serious medical conditions. This does not necessarily mean that school law in Pennsylvania permits the use of medical marijuana by staff or students.... Read More...

  • Congratulations Gabrielle Sereni and Tom Goham on Your Recent Marriage

    September 29, 2017

    As you might imagine, the attorneys of Raffaele Puppio have a great deal of experience with contracts. Most of the contracts we draft and execute are not particularly newsworthy, but the contract executed on September 9 by one of our senior education law attorneys is an exception. We are delighted for our colleague, Gabrielle “Gabby”... Read More...

  • Special Education Law: What is KOSHK and Why is it Important?

    June 15, 2016

    An important fact in a special education due process proceeding is the “KOSHK” date, or the date that the parent “knew or should have known” about an alleged deprivation of special education. A “deprivation of special education” just mean that the parents are claiming that a child should have been provided with special education but... Read More...