Legal Updates

On April 21, 2020, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Board of Control voted to cancel the 2020 spring sports regular season and tournament competitions.  While this news did not come as a surprise, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and Wisconsin’s Safer-at-Home Order, the WIAA’s decision does not make this most recent development any…

On April 15, 2020, Governor Evers signed into law 2019 Wisconsin Act 185 (“Act 185”). Many of Act 185’s provisions aim to take advantage of and/or facilitate the various enactments of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). In addition to Act 185’s provisions affecting Wisconsin school districts, which were thoroughly…

With public school districts closed for purposes of in-person pupil instruction and extra-curricular activities for the remainder of the school year, many school districts are considering moving up construction and building maintenance projects that were previously scheduled to commence in the summer. In addition, some school districts had already commenced construction and building maintenance projects…

With the spring election of school board members completed, school boards must now focus on the school board organizational meeting for purposes of electing officers.  This Legal Update provides a review of the laws governing that organizational meeting, and addresses some of the concerns about accomplishing the organizational meeting tasks when one or more school board…

Governor Tony Evers signed 2019 Wisconsin Act 185 (“Act 185” or “the Act”) into law on April 15, 2020. The Act produced a series of statutory changes concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Wisconsin school districts. Nonstatutory Provisions On April 16, 2020, the Department of Public Instruction (“DPI” or “the Department”) emailed Wisconsin…

To say that this school year has presented educators with unique and complex challenges may be the understatement of the century. Governor Evers’ revised Safer at Home Order, including the school closure component, made official what most have expected would be the case – school is closed for the “remainder of the 2019-2020 school year”….

On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued regulations to clarify the paid leave provisions in the recently-enacted Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA). The new regulations, which were effective as of April 2, 2020, provide detailed rules for implementing the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family and…

As a result of the State of Wisconsin’s orders, which indefinitely closed public and private schools for purposes of pupil instruction and extracurricular activities, except for virtual learning, due to the health emergency caused by COVID-19, school districts have been forced to implement or expand virtual or remote learning programs. Such programs utilize video conferencing,…

In two previous Legal Updates, we addressed the Unemployment Insurance benefits in Wisconsin and the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. As our prior article on Unemployment Insurance benefits was drafted before the passage of the CARES Act, this Legal Update will provide additional information regarding those provisions of the CARES Act that…

In our previous Legal Update, we explained the flurry of legal actions and court decisions that occurred in the last few days before today’s Spring Election. As discussed in the earlier Legal Update, the United States Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) overruled the injunction issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of…