Legal Survival Guide

With the pandemic and all the complications that go with it a principal’s job has never been more difficult. The last thing a busy principal has time to do is review their student code of conduct and update it for the 2024-25 school year, create new communications and forms and then work through it with school legal counsel- this is a time (and cost) intensive process! Fortunately, MASSP and attorneys Kevin Sutton and Anya Lusk from Miller Johnson have done all this leg work for you.  

The Legal Survival Guide is an all-inclusive document that not only provides updated legally sound Student Code of Conduct policies but it also includes a list of Model Annual Notifications such as FERPA, Armed Forces Directory Information, Asbestos, Pesticides, Drug-Free Environment/Protect and several more! There is an entire section dedicated to Model Student Focused Policies and Administrative Regulations around Education Records, Student Surveys, Student Activities etc. This document will save you hours of time and will help to ensure your school/district policies are on the right side of any legal challenge. 

The Legal Survival Guide is divided into six information-packed sections:

1. Model Student Code of Conduct;
2. Student-focused policies and administrative regulations (including: attendance, FERPA, bullying, discipline, immunizations, medication, epinephrine auto-injectors, opioid antagonists, etc.)
3. Annual Notifications
4. General policies and administrative regulations (including: web accessibility, acceptable use, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, teacher and student use of social media, etc.)
5. Model forms (including: FERPA opt-out form, acknowledgment of receipt of the Student Code of Conduct, physical examinations and screenings opt-out, administration of medication to students, student self-administration of medication, administration of an epinephrine auto-injectors and asthma inhalers, etc.)
6. A model table of contents for student handbooks.

*Now featuring a NEW Return to School addendum with important guidance related to Title IX, requiring masks and additional safety protocols!

With this purchase, members will have access to the Legal Survival Guide which is accessible via the MASSP website in a digital format.  Various sections can be read and downloaded in PDF format for schools to use at their disposal.  

The resources in the Legal Survival Guide will provide everything you need to make sure that your handbooks, student code, policies, and more are in tip-top shape for the start of the 2024-25 school year.