NJASA Legal Department Research Services - January 2023

School officials must deal with many challenging issues that run the gamut from health, safety, and personnel matters to curriculum and student discipline. One vexing issue that boards of education may be confronted with is parental requests to remove certain books from the schools that they find objectionable. For some, the removal of any books from public schools and their libraries or the curriculum is impermissible censorship; for others, the removal of books deemed objectionable is an exercise of discretion that is necessary to protect impressionable children. This Administrative Guide series offers guidance on the permissibility of the removal of books from public schools.

In addition, the School News Briefs discusses three new cases, including one in which Commissioner of Education held that a Board Member who violated the Code of Ethics for School Board Members was entitled to indemnification for legal fees and costs incurred in defense of an ethics complaint filed against him.

The Special Education Bulletin also reviews three new cases including a case in which an ALJ found that a Board did not deny a multiply disabled elementary student a FAPE or violate the student’s IEP by shifting from in-person to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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