The long-awaited revisions to the Section 504 regulations have finally been issued!  In this session, Attorney Erin D. Gilsbach provides a clear and concise overview of the changes as well as an in-depth analysis of their implications for the practice of special education.  Through the use of helpful quick-reference graphic tools and handouts, she identifies the key changes to the law, discussing the practical impact of each change as it is reviewed.  She also provides best-practice tips for implementing the new changes and incorporating them into current school practices and procedures, and she provides practical and helpful tools for those responsible for their implementation. This session is essential for all educators and administrators, as it provides important information regarding these most recent and key legal changes to the Section 504 regulations, which apply to ALL students with disabilities.

Litigation is disruptive.  One of the best ways to minimize the disruption (and significantly reduce legal fees!) is to ensure that the special education documents speak for themselves. Comprehensive and explanatory special education documentation can reduce the amount of witness testimony needed and ensure that anyone reviewing the documents can easily follow what happened, what was proposed, and the nature and extent of the parents’ involvement. That’s often not easy, though. A series of three IEP meeting invitation forms doesn’t tell the story of how the parents canceled the first two meetings at the last minute or failed to respond to any of the three attempts. In this session, attorney Erin D. Gilsbach demonstrates how the use of a simple cover letter (or “cover email”) in litigation-risk cases can serve to connect the dots in any special education file, effectively reducing litigation stress, attorneys’ fees, and unnecessary witness testimony.

The long-awaited changes to the to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) have arrived!  The federal law turned 50 in 2024, and an update to its accompanying regulations is long overdue!  FERPA covers privacy related to student records and sets forth the mechanisms by which parents have the right to view and request to amend their students' records. In this session, attorney Erin D. Gilsbach will provide an overview of the law as well as a detailed discussion of the regulatory changes.  She provides helpful charts and tools for educators and administrators to take back to their school teams.  You won't want to miss this update on the new changes to the FERPA regulations.

Many special educators don’t realize that a large part of litigation- prevention happens at the IEP meetings. What is it that causes a family to get so frustrated with a school that they seek legal counsel? What makes them feel that the only alternative is to file for due process? Attorney Erin D. Gilsbach has attended hundreds of IEP meetings in her nearly 20-year career and has seen, firsthand, meeting strategies that can deescalate a tense situation and practices that can lead to heightened tensions and litigation. She discusses issues related to the meeting set-up; meeting participants; seeking (and getting!) great parent input; documenting the meeting and discussions; following up with parents afterwards, and much more. This is a can’t-miss session for anyone seeking to improve the quality and legal-defensibility of their IEP meetings.

Schools across the nation are dealing with an influx of undocumented students, who have specific rights with regards to public education. Such students often have complicated needs, particularly if they are students with disabilities. In this session, special education attorney Erin D. Gilsbach discusses the rights of undocumented special education students and their parents under state and federal law and answers common legal questions. She discusses such legal issues as obligations to parents and students related to language barriers, child find obligations and the specific challenges that may be posed by English language learners with underlying special needs, health-related issues, coordination of services between school and home, the potential implications of involvement of law enforcement in behavioral and disciplinary actions, and other important topics. This is a key session for educators seeking to better understand the legal complexities of educating undocumented students with special needs.

Who makes IDEA decisions if a student is living with a neighbor and doesn’t have contact with his parents? What if parents are separated and both want to attend an IEP meeting but refuse to be in the same room? What if one parent is currently incarcerated or is subject to a protection-from-abuse order but expresses a desire to be involved in the IEP process? What if parents disagree about important issues such as administration of medication or the provision specific accommodations or services? Do any of these questions sound familiar? Special educators encounter a wide variety of family law issues with some posing a complicated entanglement of both state and federal law. In this session, special education attorney Erin D. Gilsbach discusses the legal aspects of and provides some helpful solutions to some of the most common (and a few interestingly uncommon) family law issues that educators may encounter.

Special education caselaw is riddled with examples of absurd fact patterns, outlandish independent hearing officer findings, and unusual witness behaviors. But with each crazy case come real-life lessons to be learned in the arena of special education litigation. In this session, special education attorney Erin D. Gilsbach takes participants on an amusing and sometimes downright unbelievable journey as she shares with participants the wild side of special education litigation and provides some important takeaway lessons from some over-the-top cases that she has encountered in her nearly 20-year career. You won’t want to miss this entertaining and informative session!

In a special education due process hearing, school witnesses include teachers, administrators, counselors, school psychologists, service providers, and more. But did you know that independent hearing officers have the authority and obligation to determine the credibility of each witness and that the success of the case depends heavily upon that credibility finding? In this session, attorney Erin D. Gilsbach uses her nearly 20 years of experience practicing special education law to provide helpful information about what witnesses can do to enhance their testimony through simple but nuanced techniques regarding body language, eye contact, and communication skills, formal document review, and hearing preparation. She also provides examples of credibility determinations from real special education cases to show what impresses hearing officers and what may lead to a determination that a witness is not credible on the stand. This session is a must for all special educators and special education administrators.

IEPs and Section 504 plans for students with ADHD often contain "default" or "go-to" ADHD accommodations which, addition to lacking the individualization needed to meet the FAPE standard, are often unnecessary, inappropriate, or even counter-productive to the student's success. To make matters worse, they often result in implementation issues and staff frustration, which can also lead to significant liability. In this session, nationally-recognized speaker and special education attorney Erin D. Gilsbach, who has specialized experience with and knowledge of the topic, emphasized the importance of re-thinking "standard" ADHD accommodations to increase effectiveness and minimize potential liability. This compassionate and eye-opening session, which provides legally-defensible solutions and alternatives to some of the most common and problematic examples from caselaw and Erin's own practice will challenge the way participants look at accommodating students with ADHD.

Section 504 eligibility extends to a wide variety of disabilities, including asthma, severe allergies, diabetes, epilepsy, many types of mental health issues, and other chronic conditions, yet, in most public schools, the number of students with Section 504 plans and/or accommodations is only fraction of the students with eligible disabilities. In this session, Erin D. Gilsbach, Esq., a school attorney and frequent presenter with the Pennsylvania and National school Boards Associations who provides professional development to educators, school leaders, and school attorneys nationwide, discusses some of the causes of this serious underrepresentation and provides much-needs solutions. in this interactive and highly-informative session, sch provides a practical yet comprehensive study of the legal requirements of Section 504 and discusses efficient ways for parents and advocates to effect positive change for their students and in their school. Atty. Gilsbach combines advanced technology, comprehensive written materials, and an array of invaluable visual graphics to clearly depict important legal concepts and information such as Section 504 eligibility, tips for effectively using nursing and non-nursing staff, leads to developing legally-defensible Section 504 pan and provides tools for educators and school leaders to guide their schools into better Section 504 compliance. Participants wont want to miss this lively and useful session.

Public schools often hire independently-licensed individuals to perform functions within the school, such as licensed nurses, psychologists, social workers, etc. The confidentiality rules related to those state-issued licenses typically include only one exception related to imminent threats to the patient/client's health, safety and/or welfare. What happens with a child reveals information to a professionally-licensed school employee that does not rise to the level of a health/safety/welfare threat but that implicated a school's child find obligations or other IDEA obligations? Public school confidentiality laws, including FERPA, are designed to permit disclosure to school employees with a "legitimate educational interest" and do not restrict disclosure to only situations in which there is a health/safety/welfare threat. This more relaced standard enables schools to fulfill their child find and other obligations under Section 504 and the IDEA. IDEA and section 504 violations con have significant liability consequences for a school and educational consequences for the employee, including permanent loss of licensure. How do professionally-licensed individuals comply with the obligations of their licensure without violating the school's legal obligations under the IDEA and Section 504? What do school administrators need to know/do to address the issue of potential conflicts between the potentially-conflicting confidentiality requitements of independently licensed employees and their obligations as school's employees pursuant to the IDEA and Section 504? This session provides answers to these important questions.

In this session, nationally-recognized speaker and special education attorney Erin D. Gilsbach draws from caselaw, as well as more than 15 years of experience working with schools, to identify some of the most common and easily-avoided errors in IEP drafting. Using quick-reference graphics, practical reference guides, and a touch of humor, Erin shares real-life, hard learned lessons from many different schools and provides participants with the information that they need to make sure that their own schools don't repeat these all-to-common mistakes. Learn how to spot these frequently-made errors and how to avoid them in your own special education practice. This session is particularly recommended for special education directors, supervisors, case managers, and any others responsible for reviewing and monitoring the development of IEPs within their school and training special education staff.