When I am on the road speaking, which is particularly often in the spring and fall, people often ask me what I am hearing, what I am worried about, or what they should be worried about. I think quite a bit about liability, obviously, but I also track a lot of other trends in education as they often relate to risks we have not thought about yet and, let's face it, there are very few things more important to most people's lives than education and it impacts our broader world in unexpected ways that are endlessly interesting.
Legal Question of the Week: Two schools have actually contacted me this week asking about peanut allergies and limiting peanuts on campus. If you are also curious about this one, know that anecdotally many of our schools have gone as close to peanut free as they can. When the ADA was amended a few years ago it cleared up the confusion created within the circuits about whether peanut allergies, particularly those that are life-threatening, are covered under the Act. They are. As places of public accommodation, independent schools are required to make reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and limiting peanuts and related foods is generally pretty reasonable. There are some tweaks here for religious schools, etc. You can read our ADA document for more information. Schools can not really absolutely guarantee that there will be no residual peanuts on campus (the peanut butter and banana sandwich breakfast is a staple in our house, particularly when my husband is in charge of breakfast), but you can take reasonable steps such as not allowing students to bring peanut related foods for lunch or snacks, requesting ingredient lists for any snacks or treats sent into school, and similar steps. Note that the "peanut-free table" takes students with this particular disability out of the flow of "regular" students because of their condition and this might be problematic under the ADA. Schools that have taken these steps are usually happy to provide insight into their approach, so don't be shy about talking to your colleagues about particular issues here.
Student Data: As some of you know, one of the topics I am tracking closely is student data - who has it, who uses it, who secures it, and all things related to it, particularly in the edtech world. It turns out that I am not alone and that this was a very hot topic at SxSWEdu in Austin this week. Several organizations in the edtech world have gotten together for some initial best practice expectations by way of Student Data Principles. There are some great thoughts in there, but I suspect these might tee up even more questions for schools as they try and approach the topic. There are a lot of philosophical and practical aspects to unpack in this topic. If you want more of an overview on the topic, checkout this one from EdSurge. If you feel like you have solved this issue in your school (short of deciding just not to have technology), I would love to hear more!
International Students: It is not secret that the last few years have brought an influx of international students to day and boarding schools around the country. I am joining Heather Broadwater in a legal webinar next week on managing risks, policies, and practices in this important area, and I hope you will join us (you can register for this one and others). Just to let you know how on top of our game we need to be, note that fraud is starting to rear its ugly head.
Boys: One of the more interesting education tidbits of the week is how boys are doing in schools generally, particularly in this country. This story has been picked up by the Times and the Economist, and warrants a pause to think about how our schools are structured to meet the overall needs and learning styles of our students. If you really want something to keep you up at night, build in some other social impacts.
There are, of course, all sorts of other topics crossing my desktop, but these are the ones that standout on this beautiful Thursday morning. I will aim for another update next week.