CATEGORY:
Private Education Matters
CLIENT TYPE:
Private Education
DATE: Sep 06, 2024
- During recent years, Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has had ongoing financial challenges despite an endowment valued at around $5 billion. One trustee on Penn State’s Board felt the endowment could be higher if the endowment management fees were lower. As part of his role as a trustee, the trustee requested more details on the endowment management fee yet was only provided with publicly available data. The trustee alleged that his fellow trustees denied requests for more financial data, calling the requests unreasonable and overly burdensome. The trustee filed suit against Penn State because he felt unable to carry out his fiduciary duties with the proper level of diligence. The trustee also alleges that his fellow trustees imposed sanctions against him, banning him from committees and removing board social privileges.
- A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge recently ordered Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to turn over documents and data that it withheld related to Title I funding for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. By way of background, low-income students in private and public schools receive Title I funding to pay for counseling, tutoring, teacher aides, and learning specialists. The funding is funneled through school districts, and there is an ongoing dispute between LAUSD related to how much funding should be allocated for the Archdiocese’s schools. In 2023-2024, LAUSD cut its total share allocated to private schools from between 2% and 2.6% to 0.5%. LAUSD ignored the Archdiocese’s requests for public documentation related to the cuts.
- The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently ruled that a Judaic Studies teacher employed by an Orthodox Jewish school was considered a minister and subject to the ministerial exception. In 2019, the School learned of allegations of inappropriate conduct by the teacher, including intentional physical conduct with female students, which is contrary to the Orthodox Jewish standards of conduct set forth in the staff handbook. The School terminated the teacher and then issued a letter to the School community regarding the decision to terminate his employment. The letter was disseminated on social media, costing the teacher future employment opportunities. The teacher sued, alleging defamation. LCW previously covered this case, when the appellate court ruled that the ministerial exception extended to tort claims because the claim was related to the religious institution’s employment decision. The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed, but clarified that it would not hear the case because doing so would entangle the court in matters of religious doctrine and violate the School’s First Amendment rights.
- A lawsuit challenging University of Texas at Austin’s admissions policy was recently dismissed. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2019 by Students for Fair Admissions, the same group that prevailed in similar cases against Harvard and UNC. The lawsuit was previously dismissed in 2021. After the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action last summer, UT Austin changed its admissions policy, continuing with its holistic review approach, but no longer considering an applicant’s race or ethnicity in that process. SFFA motioned for the appeal to move forward, arguing that the new race-neutral policies were still in violation of the decision. The Court dismissed the appeal, reasoning that the case was moot and the revised admissions policy was lawful under the Supreme Court’s precedent.
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