Dear School Law Section Members:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as Chair of the School Law Section. The collegiality shared among our section members makes us unique, and I believe it contributes positively to the sec- tion’s programs and offerings. Included among those are this newsletter, the UT School Law Conference and the annual Section Retreat.
Our most recent Section Retreat was held at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San Antonio. We were hon- ored to present the Kelly Frels Lifetime Achievement Award to two pillars in our community, Janet Hor- ton and Jim Walsh. Their contributions to the Section have been invaluable and we were grateful to have the opportunity to acknowledge their careers and achievements. Many thanks to Fred Stormer, the imme- diate Past Chair, Jamie Turner and Ross Mitchell, the Program Chairs for the Retreat, the members of the 2016-2017 Executive Committee and all others who helped make the retreat a great success. This year’s retreat will again be at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort on July 26-28, 2018. I hope to see you there.
This year the UT School Law Conference will be February 22-23, 2018, at the AT&T Conference Center in Austin. The planning committee has begun its work to put together an informative and engaging pro- gram, and I appreciate their efforts in that regard. The UT School Law Conference is a great opportunity to earn CLE that will be useful in your practice as a school law attorney. It is also a source of valuable training for school board members, administrators and education policy makers.
Finally, the School Law Section is pleased to produce this newsletter. Leticia McGowan has served as editor of the newsletter for many years, and this year Paige Williams will serve as co-editor. If you have ideas for future articles or would like to make a contribution to a future issue, please contact them at lmcgowan@dallasisd.org or legal@tcta.org.
As we began the 2017-2018 school year, our Gulf Coast communities were devastated by Hurricane Har- vey. Many of our school districts were forced to delay the beginning of the school year and, as of the date of this message, some have yet to reopen. The recovery effort will be long and difficult. In an effort to assist those who have lost so much, the School Law Section has authorized a contribution of up to $10,000 to match Section members’ contributions to charitable organizations who are assisting with the rebuilding. Please contact me at legal@tcta.org for information about eligible contributions and how to claim matching funds.
It is an honor to serve as your Chair. If I can be of any assistance to you, please feel free to contact me at the above email address or call me at 1-888-879-8282.
Best regards,
Julie D. Leahy
Section Chair 2017-2018